PRINCETON,     N.     J. 


SAelf. 


Sec/ion    *.Vs 


Number. 


K..i..8. 

)...a.83. 


BR  162  .K5  1883 
Killen,  W.  D.  1806-1902. 
The  ancient  church:  its 
history,  doctrine,  worship^ 


THE  /      2>^*^' 


ANCIENT    CHU 


HISTORY,     DOCTRINE,     WORSHIP,     AND 
CONSTITUTION, 

TRACED  FOR  THE  FIRST  THREE  HUNDRED  YEARS 


BY 

W.     D.^KILLEN,     D.D., 

PROFESSOR  OF.  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY  AND   PASTORAL  THEOLOGY  IN  THE   IRISH 
ASSEMBLY'S  COLLEGE,    BELFAST,    AND   PRESIDENT  OF  THE   FACULTY. 


"  Glorious  things  are  spoken  of  thee,  O  city  of  God." 

Psalm  Ixxzvli.  3. 

A    NEW   EDITION,    CAREFULLY    REVISED, 

WITH    A   PREFACE 

By    JOHN    HALL,    D.D., 

Minister  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York. 


NEW    YORK: 

ANSON    D.    F.    RANDOLPH    &    COMPANY, 

900  Broadway,  cor.  2oth  Street. 


y'^^-S 


COPYRIGHT,    18S3,    BY 
ANSON    D.    F.    RANDOLPH    &    COMPANY. 


NEW    YORK: 
EDWARD   O.    JENKINS,  •  ROBERT   RUTTER, 

Printer  and  Siereoty/ier,  Binder^ 

20  North  William  St.  xi6  and  118  East  14th  Street. 


PREFACE 


It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  in  an  age  which  busies  itself 
about  the  beginnings  of  things,  there  should  be  given  rencAved 
attention  to  the  early  history  of  the  Christian  Church,  They 
who  deem  religious  life  in  a  decaying  state  must  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  reconcile  with  their  view  the  amount  of  learning  and  of 
mental  activity  devoted  to  this  department  of  knowledge.  If 
the  law  of  demand  and  supply  works  with  the  uniformity  com- 
monly ascribed  to  it,  there  never  were  so  many  persons  as  in 
our  time  keenly  interested  in  the  Genesis  of  the  Christian 
Church.  In  England,  in  Germany,  even  in  France,  and  in  our 
own  country,  the  foremost  minds  are  occupied  with  questions 
regarding  the  institutions,  the  development,  and  the  early 
struggles  of  a  community  now  making  itself  felt  in  every  part 
of  the  world  where  there  is  any  intellectual  life,  or  indeed  any 
human  activity.  It  is  not  surely  presumptuous  to  hope  that 
permanent  good  will  come  from  so  many  minds  being  brought 
again  into  contact  with  the  Son  of  God  on  earth,  and  with  His 
apostles,  at  that  crisis  of  human  history  when  their  words  and 
their  deeds  were  the  germs  of  permanent  and  blessed  institu- 
tions. 

It  is  the  special  commendation  of  History,  that  it  widens  the 
field  of  our  observation,  and  enables  us  to  see  how  great  prin- 
ciples— which,  like  great  bodies,  move  slowly — work  themselves 
out  in  congenial  results.  It  would  have  been  difficult,  proba- 
bly, to  convince  a  well-to-do  young  Hebrew  in  the  later  years 
of  Solomon's  reign,  when  the  precious  metals  were  as  stones 
in  the  street,  when  foreign  fashions  were  ruling  society  in  Jeru- 
salem, that  God-fearing  was  essential  to  prosperity,  and  that 
the  religion  of  the  fathers  must  be  maintained  in  order  to  na- 
tional dignity  and  prosperity.  But  it  is  only  needful  to  glance 
over  the  history  of  Solomon's  successor  to  see  how  soon  evil 
seeds  bring  forth  evil  fruit,  and  how  departure  from  God  in- 

(iii) 


IV  PREFACE. 

volves  the  loss  of  the  best  social  and  national  blessings.  Just 
so  it  may  sometimes  seem  to  a  hasty  reader  of  the  Epistles,  as 
if  little  things  attracted  disproportionate  attention  from  the 
apostles — as  for  example,  the  eating  of  "  things  offered  to 
idols  " — but  a  moderate  study  of  the  early  Church's  history 
corrects  the  impression,  and  shows  that  a  trifling  trend  in  one 
generation  may  be  a  decided  and  irresistible  movement  in  the 
next.  A  "  false  view  "  of  a  quarter  of  an  inch  at  the  muzzle 
of  the  gun  will  mean  the  striking  of  the  shot  many  feet  from 
the  target. 

For  many  reasons  it  is  desirable  that  those  who  forego  any 
approach  to  an  oligarchy  in  the  Church,  and  who  hold  by  a 
Government  at  once  independent  of  the  State,  and  in  the  line 
of  popular  civil  self-government,  should  be  acquainted  with  the 
annals  of  the  early  Church.  The  foregoing  description  does 
not  by  any  means  include  Presbyterians  only.  The  over- 
whelming majority  of  the  Protestant  Christians  of  the  United 
States  are  agreed  as  to  the  parity  of  the  clergy,  and  the  seem- 
ing exception  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  more 
apparent  than  real,  for  a  bishop  in  that  great  and  useful  branch 
of  the  Church  is  not  much  different  in  form  and  power  from 
the  "  superintendents  "  in  whom  Reformers  in  Scotland  saw 
no  peril,  indeed,  not  essentially  different  from  synodical  mis- 
sionaries working  in  concert  with  Boards  and  Presbyteries  in 
the  newer  fields  of  the  West.'  Whatever  may  be  guarded  in 
name  from  the  appearance  of  legislative  or  executive  authority, 
in  an  "Association"  among  our  Baptist  and  Congregational 
brethren,  any  Presbyterian  admitted  thereto  by  courtesy  finds 
the  substance  of  the  action  of  his  Presbytery  reproduced,  even 
as  the  New  England  deacon  is  the  exact  counterpart  of  an  old- 
world  Presbyterian  Elder.  Perhaps  it  is  not  the  mere  hope  of 
an  eager  partisan,  that,  as  independent  activity  of  mind  makes 
itself  felt  throughout  the  country,  the  moral  influence  of  the 
Association  or  the  Presbytery  will  be  found  more  and  more 
important  to  the  preservation  of  such  denominational  unity  as 
renders  close  and  comfortable  organic  co-operation  possible. 
But  whether  this  hope  be  realized  or  not,  whether  or  not  it  be 
justifiable,  every  intelligent  Presbyterian  must  be  glad  that  in 

'  The  Wesleyan  Methodists  of  England,  after  much  discussion,  have  admit- 
ted others  than  ministers  to  the  governing  council  of  the  denomination. 


PREFACE.  V 

the  working  of  the  churches,  the  lines  of  his  church  govern- 
ment are  followed  so  closely  by  those  who,  like  our  Baptist 
brethren,  hold  so  much  in  common  with  him  of  the  great  Evan- 
gelical system  of  truth. 

The  author  whose  A?icient  Church  herewith  goes  to  a  second 
American  edition,  after  a  brief  but  remarkably  useful  pastoral 
life,  was  called  to  the  Professorship  of  Church  History  in 
the  Presbyterian  College,  Belfast,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
the  clergy  of  the  Irish  Presbyterian  Church  have  caught  the 
spirit  of  his  Lectures  on  "  Church  History  "  and  "  Pastoral 
Theology."  The  associate  of  Dr.  Wilson,  a  clear  writer  on 
Baptism,  of  Dr.  Cooke,  as  earnest  and  evangelical  as  he  was 
eloquent,  and  of  Dr.  Murphy,  who  still  lives  to  do  the  work  of 
a  good  teacher  and  an  able  commentator,  and  of  others  like- 
minded,  he  has  helped  to  train  a  body  of  ministers  inferior  to 
none  in  Christendom,  and  to  guide  the  counsels  of  a  church 
which,  under  many  forms  of  social  repression  and  political  dis- 
advantage, has  made  Ulster  a  vivid  exception  to  the  unrest 
and  the  misery  of  the  other  three  provinces  of  Ireland,  and 
from  which  no  mean  element  of  American  Presbyterianism  has 
drawn  its  blood  and  its  inspiration. 

Dr.  Killen  is  a  pronounced  Presbyterian,  but  not  from  mere 
hereditary  leaning  ;  but,  as  the  lawyers  say,  "  for  cause."  It 
will  be  found,  however,  that  the  views  here  illustrated  from 
the  early  centuries  of  our  era  are  not  now  confined  to  scholars 
of  his  class.  No  more  evangelical  teacher  ever  preached  and 
wrote  in  the  pale  of  the  English  Church  than  Dr.  Thomas 
Scott,  whose  Commentary  combines  in  a  high  degree  just  inter- 
pretation with  devout  feeling  and  moderation  of  judgment. 
He  did  not  hesitate,  while  a  minister  of  the  Anglican  Estab- 
lishment, to  commit  his  Commentary  to  the  truth,  that  among 
Ephesian  and  Philippian  Christians  in  Paul's  time.  Presbyter 
and  Bishop  were  names  of  the  same  church  officer.  Scott,  in- 
deed, was  not  recognized  as  a  great  scholar.  Since  the  issue  of 
Dr.  Killen's  first  edition  of  this  work,  however,  a  marked  change 
has  taken  place  from  a  variety  of  causes,  not  among  historians 
only,  but  among  critics.  The  language  of  the  earlier  tradi- 
tions and  chronicles — formulated  when  diocesan  Episcopacy 
had  become  as  thoroughly  established  as  the  doctrines  of 
Rome,  and  which  gave  to  every  believing  man  mentioned  in 


vi  PREFACE. 

the  New  Testament  a  place  as  "  Bishop  " — this  language  had 
been  read  without  hesitation  in  the  prelatic  sense.  The  honest 
admissions  however  of  Ellicott,  Lightfoot,  and  others  of  un- 
doubted scholarship,  in  which  Scott's  viev/s  are  endorsed,  and 
prelacy  in  the  Church  is  made  to  be  post-apostolic,  have  entirely 
changed  the  form  of  expression,  and  even  in  Great  Britain, 
where  the  Episcopal  system  is  deeply  rooted,  and  incorporated 
with  the  State,  have  given  some  color  to  the  suggestion,  that 
England  would  ultimately  come  to  a  modified  Presbyterianism. 
The  opening  sentence  of  Dean  Stanley's  chapter  on  "  the 
clergy"  {Christian  Institutions)^  expresses  the  received  views  of 
scholars.  "  It  is  certain  that  throughout  the  first  century,  and 
for  the  first  years  of  the  second,  that  is,  through  the  later  chap- 
ters of  the  Acts,  the  Apostolical  Epistles,  and  the  writings  of 
Clement  and  Hermas,  Bishop  and  Presbyter  were  convertible 
terms,  and  that  the  body  of  men  so  called  were  the  rulers — so 
far  as  any  permanent  rulers  existed  of  the  early  Church."  And 
while  there  is  much  in  statement  and  in  omission  in  this  last 
work  of  Dean  Stanley,  to  grieve  evangelical  people  who  were 
attracted  by  his  genial  character,  there  is  timely  truth  in  the 
sentence  :'  "  It  is  certain  that  in  no  instance  before  the  begin- 
ning of  the  third  century,  the  title  or  function  of  the  Pagan  or 
Jewish  Priesthood  is  applied  to  Christian  pastors."  With  much 
learning,  and  with  some  natural  desire  to  make  the  best  show- 
ing possible  for  modern  "orders,"  Mr.  Hatch,  of  Oxford,  yet 
shows  that,  "when  the  organization  of  the  churches  was  more 
complete,  it  is  clear  that  the  jurisdiction  belonged  to  the  coun- 
cil of  Presbyters." "  So,  "  it  is  clear,"  he  concludes,  "  that  the 
Presbyters  of  the  primitive  churches  did  not  necessarily  teach. 
They  were  not  debarred  from  teaching,  but  if  they  taught  as 
well  as  ruled,  they  combined  two  offices."  Nor  is  it  improper 
to  quote  the  following  sentence  from  Mr.  Hatch,  as  embody- 
ing the  very  idea  which  Dr.  Killen  delights  to  illustrate. 
"  When  the  Episcopal  system  had  established  itself,  there  was 
a  bishop  wherever  in  later  times  there  would  have  been  a  par- 
ish church.  From  the  small  province  of  Proconsular  Asia, 
which  was  about  the  size  of  Lincolnshire,  forty-two  bishops 

'  "Christian  Institutes,"  p.  208. 

*  "  The  Organization  of  the  Early  Churches,"  Bampton  Lecture,  1880. 


PREFACE.  vn 

were  present  at  an  early  council  :  in  the  only  half-converted 
province  of  North  Africa,  four  hundred  and  seventy  Episcopal 
towns  are  known  by  name."  *  In  other  words  the  teaching 
elder  of  each  congregation  was  a  bishop  ;  he  had  no  earthly 
superior.  Hence  Mr.  Hatch  justly  adds :  "  It  is  therefore 
reasonable  to  expect  that  the  bishop,  as  the  chief  officer  of  the 
community,  presided  wherever  the  community  met  together." 
It  is  not  only  reasonable,  it  is  certain.  Just  so  the  Reformed 
Churches  of  the  Presbyterian  order  have  it  until  this  day,  in 
Europe,  Asia,  and  America.  In  the  same  line  with  Stanley, 
Mr.  Hatch  says  :  "  The  names  by  which  they  (church  officers) 
are  designated  are  various  but  interchangeable  ;  and  their 
variety  is  probably  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  same 
officer,  or  officers  having  equivalent  rank,  had  various  func- 
tions." In  the  course  of  the  second  century  indeed,  one  of  the 
names  comes  to  be  appropriated  to  a  single  officer.  We  are 
now  in  the  second  century  of  American  Independence.  If  in 
future  ages,  we  should  in  the  matter  of  government,  become 
copyists  of  European  monarchies,  it  will  be  enough  surely  for 
the  opponents  of  the  policy  to  show  the  principles  that  ruled 
us  from  1776  to  1876,  and  to  claim  that  model  as  the  original 
Republic,  the  primitive  United  States  ;  and  their  argument 
would  not  be  impaired  by  its  being  shown  that  undue  power 
was  allowed  to  pass  into  single  hands  in  the  course  of  the  sec- 
ond, or  the  third  century  of  our  history. 

It  is  not  of  course  contended  by  Dr.  Killen,  or  any  other  in- 
telligent Presbyterian,  that  the  Presbytery,  with  moderator, 
clerk,  and  all  minute  details  of  arrangement,  are  set  down  in 
the  pastoral  Epistles.  All  that  is  contended  for  is  that  princi- 
ples are  indicated,  guarded,  illustrated,  and  enforced,  the  de- 
velopment of  which  in  a  body  of  Christian  people,  uninfluenced 
by  outside  forces  like  the  State,  or  by  unspiritual  aims  like  the 
love  of  pre-eminence,  or  the  desire  to  be  like  civil  governments, 
would  imply  parity  of  the  ministry,  plurality  of  elders  in  a 
single  congregation,  and  the  representation  of  the  people  in 
church  courts.  There  is  in  the  nature  of  the  case  in  any  commu- 
nity a  principle  of  evolution  ;  but  it  does  not  reverse  element- 
ary principles.  There  was  no  State-house,  nor  capitol  at  Wash- 
ington, when  the  Thirteen  States  were  constituted  a  Nation,  but 

'  p.  78. 


VlU  PREFACE. 

nothing  since  that  time  has  been  allowed  to  reverse  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Republic. 

We  venture  to  hope  that  Dr.  Killen's  book,  as  it  is  intel- 
ligible by  the  ordinary  capacity,  will  have  an  interested  body 
of  readers  outside  the  ranks  of  students  and  ministers.  In- 
telligent adhesion  to  a  church  is  desirable.  It  is  only  by 
intelligent  adherents  that  the  machinery  and  the  aggressive 
work  of  a  church  are  likely  to  be  sustained.  Such  adherence 
to  a  denomination  is  a  healthy  tie  to  religion  itself.  The 
men  who  can  be  counted  upon  as  fit  for  important  offices  in 
the  church,  are  usually  such  as  know  wherefore  they  are  in  the 
denomination,  and  have  sympathy  with  its  distinctive  aims  and 
its  honored  traditions.  They  whose  connection  is  only  casual 
and  loose  do  not,  commonly,  add  to  a  church's  power  ;  and  it  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  information  on  subjects  of  this  kind 
does  not  narrow,  but  widen  the  sympathies.  It  is  commonly 
the  ignorant  and  unreasoning  who  are  afflicted  with  bigotry. 

Nor  is  it  entirely  unworthy  of  notice  that  some  connection 
is  commonly  found  between  reverent  loyalty  to  the  word  as 
touching  church-organization  on  the  one  hand,  and  deference 
to  it  in  the  inculcation  of  doctrine  on  the  other.  A  mistaken 
view  of  the  nature  and  history  of  the  Church,  is  a  fit  prepara- 
tion for  the  acceptance  of  error  regarding  the  doctrines  to  be 
believed.  Let  the  people  hold  that  the  apostles  appointed 
three  orders  of  ministers — bishops,  priests,  and  deacons — who 
always  and  everywhere  trace  their  commission  to  the  apostles  ; 
that  God  is  pleased  to  forgive  sins  in  the  Church  by  the  priests 
of  the  Church  ;  that  the  Greek,  Roman,  and  Anglican  Churches 
make  up  the  Church  Catholic  ;  that  all  outside  these  are  sec- 
taries cut  off  from  the  Catholic  Church  :  and  it  will  be  easy 
to  believe  in  a  sacrifice  to  God  the  Father  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per ;  in  the  cleansing  efficacy  of  Baptism,  in  which  the  seed  of 
spiritual  life  is  sown  in  the  soul  ;  that  there  are  other  lesser 
sacramental  rites,  namely,  Confirmation,  Holy  Order,  Absolu- 
tion, and  Holy  Matrimony  ;  that  the  bishop  takes  the  apos- 
tles' place  ;  that  **  the  sects"  were  founded  not  by  Jesus  Christ, 
but  by  erring  men  ;  that  apostolical  succession  is  like  the 
meshes  of  a  large  net,  but  unbroken  in  the  Greek,  Anglican, 
and  Roman  Churches  ;  and  that  the  Protestant  sects  have 
abandoned  the  Catliolic  ministry  and  sacraments.' 


PREFACE.  ix 

But  the  Presbyterian  and  allied  Churches  of  America  do  not 
mean  to  accept  principles  such  as  these  ;  and  they  do  aim  at 
the  instruction  of  the  people  in  the  truth  of  God's  word,  as  it 
justified  the  Reformers'  separation  from  the  Roman  and  Greek 
Churches.  They  know  the  history  of  apostacy,  and  of  the 
Dark  Ages.  They  know  the  conditions  of  populations  given 
up  to  sacerdotalism.  They  understand  how  ignorance,  and 
the  reaction  against  priestly  rule  in  the  name  of  a  "  Catholic 
Church,"  which  all  too  often  takes  shape  in  infidelity,  have 
long  contended  for  the  minds  of  the  nations  of  Europe.  They 
have  high  historic  authority  for  the  belief  that  the  Protestant- 
ism of  Calvin  and  of  the  Puritans  saved  liberty  to  England, 
and  gave  it  a  home  in  America  ;  and  they  mean  to  preserve  an 
independence  of  churches  so  corrupt  that  it  was  a  duty  to 
leave  them,  which  shall  be  as  real  and  as  secure  as  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  nation. 

If  the  issue  and  the  circulation  of  Dr.  Killen's  Ancient  Chu7-ch^ 
with  its  fearless  statement  of  historic  fact  and  Scriptural  prin- 
ciple, should,  through  God's  blessing,  in  any  degree  promote 
these  aims,  the  venerable  author  will  rejoice  with  a  joy  which 
the  present  writer — one  of  his  grateful  and  appreciative  stu- 
dents— may  be  permitted  to  share.  To  many  Christians  in  these 
United  States,  Dr.  Killen's  work  will  recall  memories  of  early 
lessons,  of  parental  convictions,  and  of  church  homes,  in 
which  self-reliance  as  to  any  creature,  and  absolute  depend- 
ence upon  the  infinite  power  and  grace  of  the  Creator,  were 
inculcated  ;  and,  possibly,  tracing  the  prosperity  God  has  given 
them  to  these  early  teachings,  they  will  renew  their  resolve  to 
transmit  the  same  heritage  of  faith,  and  fearless  doing  of  the 
right  for  Christ's  sake  to  their  sons  and  daughters.  So  the 
real  links  are  kept  bright  and  strong  by  which  we  are  bound 
to  the  true  Church  of  the  living  God  in  all  its  members  and 
branches  ;  and  so  parents  and  children,  pastors  and  people,  in 
the  Church  below  are  trained  for  the  service  and  the  happiness 
of  the  Church  triumphant. 

John  Hall, 

Minister,  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  N.  Y. 
Feb.  8,  1883. 

'  Every  one  of  these  statements  is  found  in  these  words  in  a  "  Protestant " 
catechism  circulated  in  New  York. 


INTRODUCTORY    NOTE    TO    THE    PRESENT 
EDITION. 


Upwards  of  twenty  years  ago  the  following  work  appeared 
contemporaneously  in  London  and  New  York,  These  English 
and  American  editions  soon  found  their  way  into  the  hands  of 
readers  ;  and  a  second  edition,  undertaken  by  a  firm  in  Great 
Britain,  has  since  been  exhausted.  The  work  has  been  for 
some  time  out  of  print ;  and,  from  various  quarters,  a  desire 
has  been  expressed  for  its  republication.  The  present  edition 
has  been  carefully  revised  by  the  author,  and  twenty  years  ot 
additional  reading  have  enabled  him  to  introduce  into  it  con- 
siderable improvements.  The  great  facts  and  principles  which 
it  originally  enunciated  remain  unchanged,  but  several  points 
are  illustrated  in  a  somewhat  different  manner,  and,  through- 
out, fresh  confirmatory  testimonies  are  subjoined. 

College  Park,  Belfast,  August,  1882, 

(xi) 


PREFATORY  NOTE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


When  the  First  Edition  of  this  Work  appeared,  the  author 
was  not  aware  that  his  views  respecting  the  Ignatian  Epis- 
tles had  the  support  of  Dr.  Bentley.  He  has  since  been 
dehghted  to  discover  that  he  is,  in  this  matter,  sustained  by 
the  authority  of  the  greatest  of  English  critics. 

In  two  instances  the  writer  has  ventured  to  dispute  the 
accuracy  of  the  textns  receptus  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
(Acts  ix.  31,  p.  224,  and  Acts  xv.  23,  p.  75).  A  communica- 
tion, received  some  time  ago  from  Dr.  Tischendorf,  informs 
him  that  both  the  readings  here  adopted  are  those  of  the 
recently-discovered  Codex  Sinaiticus. 

The  author  has  been  much  encouraged  by  Reviewers  of 
various  denominations  who  have  given  this  volume  their  ap- 
proving testimony ;  and  he  begs  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that,  though  he  has  often  left  the  path  trodden  by  preceding 
historians,  no  attempt  has  hitherto,  been  made  to  prove  that 
he  has  misled  his  readers. 

Belfast,  April  ^o,  1861. 

(xiii) 


PREFACE   TO   THE   ORIGINAL   EDITION. 


The  appearance  of  another  history  of  the  early  Church 
requires  some  explanation.  As  the  progress  of  the  Christian 
commonwealth  for  the  first  three  hundred  years  has  been  re- 
cently described  by  British,  German,  and  American  writers  of 
eminent  ability,  it  may,  perhaps,  be  thought  that  the  subject 
is  now  exhausted.  No  competent  judge  will  pronounce  such 
an  opinion.  During  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  various 
questions  relating  to  the  Ancient  Church,  which  are  almost, 
if  not  altogether,  ignored  in  existing  histories,  have  been 
earnestly  discussed ;  whilst  several  documents,  lately  dis- 
covered, have  thrown  fresh  light  on  its  transactions.  There 
are,  besides,  points  of  view,  disclosing  unexplored  fields  for 
thought,  from  which  the  ecclesiastical  landscape  has  never  yet 
been  contemplated.  The  following  work  is  an  attempt  to  ex- 
hibit some  of  its  features  as  seen  from  a  new  position. 

The  importance  of  this  portion  of  the  history  of  the  Church 
can  scarcely  be  overestimated.  Our  attention  is  here  directed 
to  the  life  of  Christ,  to  the  labors^f  the  apostles  and  evan- 
gelists, to  the  doctrines  which  they  taught,  to  the  form  of 
worship  which  they  sanctioned,  to  the  organization  of  the 
community  which  they  founded,  and  to  the  indomitable  con- 
stancy with  which  its  members  suffered  persecution.  The 
practical  bearing  of  the  topics  thus  brought  under  review 
must  be  sufficiently  obvious. 

In  the  interval  between  the  days  of  the  apostles  and  the 
conversion  of  Constantine,  the  Christian  commonwealth 
changed  it  aspect.     The  Bishop  of  Rome — a  personage  un- 

(XV) 


XVI  PREFACE   TO   THE   ORIGINAL   EDITIOx^. 

known  to  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament — meanwhile  rose 
into  prominence,  and  at  length  took  precedence  of  all  other 
churchmen.  Rites  and  ceremonies,  of  which  neither  Paul  nor 
Peter  ever  heard,  crept  silently  into  use,  and  then  claimed  the 
rank  of  Divine  institutions.  Officers  for  whom  the  primitive 
disciples  could  have  found  no  place,  and  titles,  which  to  them 
would  have  been  altogether  unintelligible,  began  to  challenge 
attention,  and  to  be  named  apostolic.  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
historian  to  endeavor  to  point  out  the  origin,  and  to  trace  the 
progress  of  these  innovations.  A  satisfactory  account  of  them 
must  go  far  to  settle  more  than  one  of  our  present  contro- 
versies. An  attempt  is  here  made  to  lay  bare  the  causes  which 
produced  these  changes,  and  to  mark  the  stages  of  the  eccle- 
siastical revolution.  When  treating  of  the  rise  and  growth  of 
the  hierarchy,  several  remarkable  facts  and  testimonies  which 
have  escaped  the  notice  of  preceding  historians  are  particu- 
larly noticed. 

Some  may,  perhaps,  consider  that,  in  a  work  such  as  this, 
undue  prominence  has  been  given  to  the  discussion  of  the 
question  of  the  Ignatian  Epistles.  Those  who  have  carefully 
examined  the  subject  will  scarcely  think  so.  If  we  accredit 
these  documents,  the  history  of  the  early  Church  is  thrown 
into  a  state  of  hopeless  confusion ;  and  men,  taught  and  hon- 
ored by  the  apostles  themselves,  have  inculcated  the  most 
dangerous  errors.  But  if  their  claims  vanish,  when  touched 
by  the  wand  of  truthful  criticism,  many  clouds  which  have 
hitherto  darkened  the  ecclesiastical  atmosphere  disappear; 
and  the  progress  of  corruption  can  be  traced  on  scientific  prin- 
ciples. The  special  attention  of  all  interested  in  the  Ignatian 
controversy  is  invited  to  the  two  chapters  of  this  work  in 
which  the  subject  is  investigated.  Evidence  is  there  produced 
o  prove  that  these  Ignatian  letters,  even  as  edited  by  the  very 

arned  and  laborious  Doctor  Cureton,  are  utterly  spurious; 
and  that  they  should  be  swept  away  from  among  the  genuine 
remains  of  early  Church  literature  with  the  besom  of  scorn. 

Throughout  the  work  very  decided  views  are  expressed  on 
a  variety  of  topics  ;  but  it  must  surely  be  unnecessary  to  tender 
an   apology  for  the  free  utterance  of  these  sentiments ;  for, 


PREFACE   TO   THE   ORIGINAL   EDITION.  xvii 

when  recording  the  progress  of  a  revolution  affecting  the 
highest  interests  of  man,  the  narrator  can  not  be  expected  to 
divest  himself  of  his  cherished  convictions ;  and  very  few  will 
venture  to  maintain  that  a  writer,  who  feels  no  personal  inter- 
est in  the  great  principles  brought  to  light  by  the  Gospel,  is, 
on  that  account,  more  competent  to  describe  the  faith,  the 
struggles,  and  the  triumphs  of  the  primitive  Christians.  I  am 
not  aware  that  mere  prejudice  has  ever  been  permitted  to  in- 
fluence my  narrative,  or  that  any  statement  has  been  made 
which  does  not  rest  upon  solid  evidence.  Some  of  the  views 
here  presented  may  not  have  been  suggested  by  any  previous 
investigator,  and  they  may  be  exceedingly  damaging  to  certain 
popular  theories;  but  they  should  not,  therefore,  be  summarily 
condemned.  Surely  every  honest  effort  to  explain  and  recon- 
cile the  memorials  of  antiquity  is  entitled  to  a  candid  criti- 
cism. Nor,  from  those  whose  opinion  is  really  worthy  of  re- 
spect, do  I  despair  of  a  kindly  reception  for  this  volume.  One 
of  the  most  hopeful  signs  of  the  times  is  the  increasing  charity 
of  evangelical  Christians.  There  is  a  growing  disposition  to 
discountenance  the  spirit  of  religious  partisanship,  and  to  bow 
to  the  supremacy  of  TRUTH.  I  trust  that  those  who  are  in 
quest  of  the  old  paths  trodden  by  the  apostles  and  the  mar- 
tyrs will  find  some  light  to  guide  them  in  the  following  pages. 


CONTENTS. 


PERIOD    I. 

FROM    THE    BIRTH    OF    CHRIST    TO    THE    DEATH    OF    THE 
APOSTLE    JOHN,   A.D.    lOO. 


SECTION   I. 

HISTORY    OF     THE    PLANTING     AND     GROWTH    OF     THE    APOSTOLIC 
CHURCH. 

CHAPTER   I. 

THE   ROMAN   EMPIRE  AT   THE  TIME  OF  THE  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST. 

The  boundaries  of  the  Empire, I 

Its  population,  strength,  and  grandeur, .2 

Its  orators,  poets,  and  philosophers 5 

The  influence  of  Rome  upon  the  provinces, 6 

The  languages  most  extensively  spoken, 6 

The  moral  condition  of  the  Empire,      .......  7 

The  influence  of  the  philosophical  sects — the  Epicureans,  the  Stoics, 

the  Academics,  and  Plato 7 

The  influence  of  the  current  Polytheism, 8 

Tfie  state  of  the  Jews — the  Pharisees,  the  Sadducees,  and  the  Essenes,  9 

Preparations  for  a  great  Deliverer,  and  expectation  of  His  appearance,  9 

CHAPTER   II. 

THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

The  date  of  the  Birth  of  Christ, II 

The  place  of  His  Birth, 1 1 

The  visit  of  the  angel  to  the  shepherds 12 

The  visit  of  the  Magi — the  flight  into  Egypt — and  the  murder  of  the 

infants  at  Bethlehem, 13 

(xix) 


XX  CONTENTS. 

The  presentation  in  the  Temple 13 

The  infancy  and  boyhood  of  Jesus, 14 

His  baptism  and  entrance  upon  His  public  ministry 15 

His  mysterious  movements 16 

The  remarkable  blanks  in  the  accounts  given  of  Him  in  the  Gospels,  .  16 

His  moral  purity, 17 

His  doctrine  and  His  mode  of  teaching, 18 

His  miracles, 19 

The  independence  of  His  proceedings  as  a  reformer 21 

The  length  of  His  ministry, 22 

The  Sanhedrim  and  Pontius  Pilate, 22 

The  Death  of  Christ,  and  its  significance 23 

His  Resurrection,  and  His  appearance  afterward  only  to  His  own  fol- 
lowers   25 

His  Ascension, 26 

His  extraordinary  character, 27 

Supplementary  Note  on  the  year  of  the  Birth  of  Christ,        .        28-30 

CHAPTER   HI. 

THE  TWELVE   AND   THE   SEVENTY. 

Our  Lord  during  His  short  ministry  trained  eighty-two  preachers — the 

Twelve  and  the  Seventy, 3^ 

Various  names  of  some  of  the  Twelve, 32 

Relationship  of  some  of  the  parties, 34 

Original  condition  of  the  Twelve, 34 

Various  characteristics  of  the  Twelve, 34 

Twelve,  why  called  Apostles, 36 

Typical  meaning  of  the  appointment  of  the  Twelve  and  the  Seventy,  .  37 

In  what  sense  the  Apostles  founded  the  Church,           ....  39 

Why  so  little  notice  of  the  Seventy  in  the  New  Testament,           .         .  41 
No  account  of  ordinations  of  pastors  or  elders  by  the  Twelve  or  the 

Seventy, -42 

No  succession  from  the  Twelve  or  Seventy  can  be  traced,   ...  42 
In  what  sense  the  Twelve  and  Seventy  have  no  successors,  and  in  what 

sense  they  have, 43-44 

CHAPTER    IV. 

THE   PROGRESS   OF  THE   GOSPEL  FROM   THE   DEATH  OF  CHRIST   TO   THE 

DEATH   OF  THE   APOSTLE  JAMES,   THE   BROTHER  OF  JOHN — 

A.D.   31    TO   A.D.   44. 

The  successful  preaching  of  the  Apostles  in  Jerusalem,        ...  46 

The  disciples  have  all  things  common, 46 


CONTENTS.  Xxi 

The  appointment  of  the  deacons, 47 

The  Apostles  refuse  to  obey  the  rulers  of  the  Jews,      ....  48 

The  date  of  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen, 49 

The  Gospel  preached  in  Samaria, 50 

The  baptism  of  the  Ethiopian  eunuch,  and  of  Cornelius  the  centurion,  51 

The  conversion  of  Saul,  his  character,  position,  and  sufferings,    .         .  52 

His  visit  to  Jerusalem,  and  vision, 55 

His  ministry  in  Syria  and  Cilicia, 56 

His  appearance  at  Antioch, 56 

Why  the  disciples  were  called  Christians, 57 

Paul  and  Barnabas  sent  from  Antioch  with  relief  to  the  poor  saints  in 

Judea, 57 

The  Apostles  leave  Jerusalem — why  no  successor  appointed  on  the 

death  of  James,  the  brother  of  John, 58 

Why  Paul  taken  up  to  Paradise, 60 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE     ORDINATION     OF     PAUL     AND     BARNABAS  ;     THEIR      MISSIONARY 

TOUR   IN   ASIA   MINOR;    AND    THE*  COUNCIL   OF  JERUSALEM — 

A.D.   44    TO   A.D.    51. 

Previous  position  of  Paul  and  Barnabas, 62 

Why  now  ordained,       . 63 

Import  of  ordination, 64 

By  whom  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  ordained,       .....  65 
They  visit  Cyprus,    Perga,    Antioch   in   Pisidia,  Iconium,   and   other 

places, 6*6 

Ordain  elders  in  every  Church .         .67 

Opposition  of  the  Jews,  and  dangers  of  the  missionaries,     .         .         .  6S 
Some  insist  on  the  circumcision  of  the  Gentile  converts,  and  are  re- 
sisted by  Paul, 70 

Why  he  objected  to  the  proposal, 70 

Deputation  to  Jerusalem  about  this  question 71 

Constituent  members  of  the  Council  of  Jerusalem,        ....  72 

Date  of  the  meeting,      .         , 73 

Not  a  popular  assembly 73 

In  what  capacity  the  Apostles  here  acted, 75 

Why  the  Council  said,  "  It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us,"  76 

The  decision yy 

Why  the  converts  were  required  to  abstain  from  blood  and  things 

strangled, yy 

Importance  of  the  decision, y8 


XXll  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


THE   INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  GOSPEL   INTO    EUROPE,   AND   THE  MINIS- 
TRY  OF    PAUL    AT    PHILIPPI. — A.D.    52. 

Date  of  Paul's  first  appearance  in  Europe, 80 

History  of  Philippi,       . .80 

Jewish  Oratory  there 81 

Conversion  of  Lydia, 81 

The  damsel  with  the  spirit  of  divination, 81 

Paul  and  Silas  before  the  magistrates, 82 

Causes  of  early  persecutions,         .         .         ; 83 

Paul  and  Silas  in  prison 83 

Earthquake  and  alarm  of  the  jailer, 84 

Remarkable  conversion  of  the  jailer, 85 

Alarm  of  the  magistrates, 87 

Liberality  of  the  Philippians, 88 

CHAPTER   Vn. 

THE    MINISTRY    OF    PAUL   IN    THESSALONICA,    BEREA,    ATHENS,    AND 
CORINTH. — A.D.    52  TO   A.D.    54. 

Thessalonica  and  its  rulers, 89 

The  more  noble  Bereans, 91 

Athens  and  its  ancient  glory, 92 

Paul's  appearance  among  the  philosophers, 92 

His  speech  on  Mars'  Hill 92 

Altar  to  the  unknown  God, 92 

The  Epicureans  and  Stoics, 93 

The  resurrection  of  the  body,  a  strange  doctrine,         ....  94 

Conversion  of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite 95 

Corinth  in  the  first  century, 95 

Paul's  success  here, 9^ 

Works  at  the  trade  of  a  tent-maker 9^ 

Corinth  a  centre  of  missionary  operation 99 

The  Corinthian  Church,  and  its  character 100 

Opposition  of  Jews,  and  conduct  of  the  Proconsul  Gallio,     .         .         .  100 

Paul  writes  the  First  and  Second  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians,  .         .  100 

CHAPTER   Vni. 

THE  CONVERSION    OF   APOLLOS  ;   HIS   CHARACTER;   AND  THE   MINISTRY 
OF    PAUL   IN    EPHESUS.— A.D.    54   TO    A.D.    57. 

Paul's  first  visit  to  Ephesus, 102 

Aquila  and  Priscilla  instruct  ApoUos 102 


CONTENTS.  XXlU 

Position  of  the  Jews  in  Alexandria 102 

Gifts  of  ApoUos, 103 

Ministry  of  Apollos  in  Corinth, 103 

Paul  returns  to  Ephesus,  and  disputes  in  the  school  of  Tyrannus,         .  104 

The  Epistle  to  the  Galatians, 105 

Paul's  visit  to  Crete,  and  perils  in  the  sea 106 

Churches  founded  at  Colosse  and  elsewhere, 107 

Temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus,  and  the  Elphesian  letters,       .         .         .  107 

ApoUonius  of  Tyana,  and  Paul's  miracles, 108 

First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 109 

Demetrius  and  the  craftsmen, 1 10 

The  Asiarchs  and  the  town-clerk, ill 

Progress  of  the  Gospel  in  Ephesius, 112 


CHAPTER   IX. 

PAUL'S    EPISTLES;   HIS  COLLECTION    FOR  THE   POOR   SAINTS  AT  JERU- 
SALEM ;     HIS    IMPRISONMENT    THERE,    AND    AT    C^SAREA 
«  AND    ROME. — A.D.    $7    TO    A.D.   63. 

Paul  preaches  in  Macedonia  and  Illyricum, 114 

Writes  the  First  Epistle  to  Timothy,  and  the  Second  Epistle  to  the 

Corinthians 114 

Arrives  in  Corinth,  and  writes  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  .         .         .116 
Sets  out  on  his  return  to  Jerusalem  ;  and,  when  at  Miletus,  sends  to 

Ephesus  for  the  elders  of  the  Church 117 

The  collection  for  the  poor  saints  of  Jerusalem  carried  by  seven  com- 
missioners   118 

Riot  when  Paul  appeared  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,         .         .         .119 
Paul  rescued  by  the  chief  captain  and  made  a  prisoner,       .        .         .119 

Paul  before  the  Sanhedrim, 121 

Removed  to  Cassarea 122 

Paul  before  Felix  and  Festus, 122 

Appeals  to  Cssar, 123 

His  defence  before  Agrippa, 124 

His  voyage  to  Rome,  and  shipwreck, 127 

His  arrival  in  Italy, 127 

Greatness  and  luxury  of  Rome, 129 

Paul  preaches  in  his  own  hired  house, 132 

His  zeal,  labors,  and  success, 133 

Writes  to  Philemon,  to  the  Colossians,  the  Ephesians,  and  the  Philip- 

pians, 134 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    X. 

PAUL'S     SECOND     IMPRISONMENT,     AND     MARTYRDOM  ;     PETER,  HIS 
EPISTLES,    HIS    MARTYRDOM,    AND    THE    ROMAN    CHURCH, 

Evidence  of  Paul's  release  from  his  first  Roman  imprisonment,  .        .  136 

His  visit  to  Spain, 136 

Writes  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 138 

Revisits  Jerusalem,  and  returns  to  Rome, 138 

His  second  Roman  imprisonment, 138 

Writes  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy, 139 

Date  of  his  martyrdom, 139 

Peter,  and  the  Church  of  Rome, i         .         .  140 

Peter  writes  his  Second  Epistle, 141 

His  testimony  to  the  inspiration  of  Paul, 141 

His  martyrdom, 142 

Circumstances  which,  at  an  early  period,  gave  prominence  to  the 

Church  of  Rome 142 

Its  remarkable  history, 142 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE  PERSECUTIONS  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  CHURCH,   AND  ITS   CONDITION 
AT  THE  TERMINATION    OF   THE   FIRST   CENTURY. 

The  Jews  at  first  the  chief  persecutors  of  the  Church,  .         .         .144 

Their  banishment  from  Rome  by  Claudius, 145 

Martyrdom  of  James  the  Just, 146 

Why  Christians  so  much  persecuted 146 

Persecution  of  Nero,     , I47 

A  general  persecution, 148 

Effect  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem 148 

Persecution  of  Domitian 149 

The  grandchildren  of  Jude 150 

Flavius  Clemens  and  Flavia  Domitilla, 150 

John  banished  to  Patmos 151 

His  last  days,  and  death 152 

State  of  the  Christian  interest  toward  the  close  of  the  first  century,     ,  152 

Spread  of  the  Gospel I53 

Practical  power  of  Christianity, I54 


CONTEl^TS.  XXV 

SECTION    II. 

THE     LITERATURE     AND     THEOLOGY    OF    THE    APOSTOLIC    CHURCH. 

CHAPTER    I. 

THE    NEW   TESTAMENT,    ITS    HISTORY,   AND    THE    AUTHORITY    OF    ITS 
VARIOUS    PARTS.— THE   EPISTLE    OF    CLEMENT  OF   ROME. 

Why  our  Lord  wrote  nothing  Himself, 156 

The  order  in  which  the  Gospels  appeared, 157 

Internal  marks  of  truthfulness  and  originality  in  the  writings  of  the 

Evangelists, 158 

The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  treat  chiefly  of  the  acts  of  Peter  and  Paul,   .  159 
On  what  principle  the  Epistles  of  Paul  arranged  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment   160 

The  titles  of  the  sacred  books  not  appended  by  the  Apostles  or  Evan- 
gelists, and  the  postscripts  of  the  Epistles  of  Paul  not  added  by 

himself,  and  often  not  trustworthy, l6l 

The  dates  of  the  Catholic  Epistles, 161 

The  authenticity  of  the  various  parts  of  the  New  Testament,       .         .  162 
Doubts  respecting  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  some  of  the  smaller 

Epistles,  and  the  Apocalypse, 162 

Division  of  the  New  Testament  into  chapters  and  verses,    .         .         .  163 
AH,  in  primitive  times,  were  invited  and  required  to  study  the  Script- 
ures,          164 

The  autographs  of  the  sacred  penmen  not  necessary  to  prove  the  in- 
spiration of  their  writings 164 

The  Epistle  of  Clement  to  the  Corinthians 165 

The  truth  of  the  New  Testament  established  by  all  the  proper  tests 

which  can  be  applied, 165 

CHAPTER   II. 

THE    DOCTRINE    OF    THE    APOSTOLIC    CHURCH. 

Same  system  of  doctrine  in  Old  and  New  Testaments,         .         .         .  167 

The  New  Testament  the  complement  of  the  Old,         .        .         .         .  167 

The  views  of  the  Apostles  at  first  obscure 168 

New  light  received  after  the  Resurrection 168 

In  the  New  Testament  a  full  statement  of  apostolic  doctrine,       .         .  169 

Sufficiency  and  plenary  inspiration  of  Scripture, 169 

Slate  of  man  by  nature, 170 

Faith  and  the  Word 171 

All  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  form  one  system, 172 


XXVI  CONTENTS. 

The  Deity  of  Christ 172 

The  Incarnation  and  Atonement, 173 

Predestination, 175 

The  Trinity, 175 

Creeds, 176 

Practical  tendency  of  apostolic  doctrine, 176 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE    HERESIES    OF   THE    APOSTOLIC   AGE. 

Original  meaning  of  the  word //"(?r^^, 178 

How  the  word  came  to  signify  something  wrong 179 

The  Judaizers  the  earliest  errorists, 179 

Views  of  the  Gnostics  respecting  the  present  world,  the  body  of  Christ, 

and  the  resurrection  of  the  body, .180 

Simon  Magus  and  other  heretics  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,    .  182 

Carpocrates,  Cerinthus,  and  Ebion, 183 

The  Nicolaitanes, •  .         .         .         .  183 

Peculiarities  of  Jewish  sectarianism 184 

Unity  of  Apostolic  Church  not  much  affected  by  the  heretics,     .        .185 

Heresy  convicted  by  its  practical  results, 186 


SECTION   III. 

THE    WORSHIP    AND    CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    APOSTOLIC    CHURCH. 

CHAPTER   I. 

THE    lord's    day;    THE    WORSHIP    OF    THE    APOSTOLIC    CHURCH;  ITS 
SYMBOLIC    ORDINANCES,    AND    ITS    DISCIPLINE. 

Christians  assembled  for  worship  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,     .         .187 
Our  Lord  recognized  the  permanent  obligation  of  the  Fourth  Com- 
mandment,   188 

Worship  of  the  Church  resembled,  not  that  of  the  Temple,  but  that  of 

the  Synagogue, 189 

No  Liturgies  in  the  Apostolic  Church, 191 

No  instrumental  music 192 

Scriptures  read  publicly '93 

Worship  in  the  vulgar  tongue '93 

Ministers  had  no  official  dress '94 


CONTENTS. 


Baptism  administered  to  infants,  .... 

Mode  of  Baptism,  ...... 

The  Lord's  Supper  frequently  administered, 

The  elements  not  believed  to  be  transubstantiated, 

Profane  excluded  from  the  Eucharist,  . 

Cases  of  discipline  decided  by  Church  rulers. 

Case  of  the  Corinthian  fornicator. 

Share  of  the  people  in  Church  discipline, 

Significance  of  excommunication  in  the  Apostolic  Church, 

Perversion  of  excommunication  by  the  Church  of  Rome, 


194 
196 
197 
198 
199 
200 
202 
203 
203 
204 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  EXTRAORDINARY    TEACHERS    OF    THE    APOSTOLIC    CHURCH  ;  AND 

ITS    ORDINARY    OFFICE-BEARERS,    THEIR    APPOINTMENT, 

AND    ORDINATION. 

Enumeration  of  ecclesiastical  functionaries  in  Ephesians  iv.  11,  12,  and 

I  Corinthians  xii.  28, 206 

Ordinary  Church  officers,  teachers,  rulers,  and  deacons,       .         .         .  207 

Elders,  or  bishops,  the  same  as  pastors  and  teachers,          .         .         .  207 

Different  duties  of  elders  and  deacons, 208 

All  the  primitive  elders  did  not  preach, 208 

The  office  of  the  teaching  elder  most  honorable,           ....  209 
Even  the  Apostles  considered  preaching  their  highest  function,  .         .211 

Timothy  and  Titus  not  diocesan  bishops  of  Ephesus  and  Crete,           .  214 
The    Pastoral   Epistles  inculcate  all  the  duties  of  ministers  of  the 

Word, 214 

Ministers  of  the  Word  should  exercise  no  lordship  over  each  other,     .  215 
The  members  of  the  Apostolic  Churches  elected  all  their  own  office- 
bearers,             216 

Church  officers  ordained  by  the  presbytery, 218 

The  office  of  deaconess, 220 

All  the  members  of  the  Apostolic  Churches  taught  to  contribute  to 

each  other's  edification, 221 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE    ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    APOSTOLIC    CHURCH. 
Unity  of  the  Church  of  Israel, 223 


Christian  Church  also  made  up  of  associated  congregations. 

The  Apostles  act  upon  the  principle  of  ecclesiastical  confederation,     . 

Polity  of  the  Christian  Church  borrowed  from  the  institutions  of  the 

Israelites, 

Account  of  the  Sanhedrim  and  inferior  Jewish  courts, 


224 
225 


225 
226 


XXVlll  CONTENTS. 

Evidences  of  similar  arrangements  in  the  Christian  Church,  .  .  227 
How  the  meeting  mentioned  in  the  15th  chapter  of  the  Acts  differed 

in  its  construction  from  the  Sanhedrim 228 

Why  we  have  not  a  more  particular  account  of  the  government  of  the 

Christian  Church  in  the  New  Testament 229 

No  higher  and  lower  houses  of  convocation  in  the  Apostolic  Church,  .  230 
James  not  bishop  of  Jerusalem,     ........     230 

Origin  of  the  story, 230 

Jerusalem  for  some  time  the  stated  place  of  meeting  of  the  highest 

court  of  the  Christian  Church, 231 

Traces  of  provincial  organization  in  Proconsular  Asia,  Galatia,  and 

other  districts,  amqng  the  Apostolic  Churches,  ....  232 
Intercourse  between  Apostolic  Churches  by  letters  and  deputations,  .  233 
How  there  were   preachers  in  the  Apostolic  Church  of  whom  the 

Apostles  disapproved, 234 

The  unity  of  the  Apostolic  Church — in  what  it  consisted,  to  what  it 

may  be  compared, 235 

/  CHAPTER   IV. 

THE    ANGELS    OF    THE    SEVEN    CHURCHES. 

The  mysterious  symbols  of  the  Apocalypse, 237 

The  seven  stars  seven  angels, 238 

These  angels  not  angelic  beings,  and  not  corporate  bodies,  but  indi- 
viduals,    239 

The  name  angel  probably  not  taken  from  that  of  an  officer  of  the  syna- 
gogue,      239 

The  angel  of  the  synagogue  a  congregational  officer 239 

The  angels  of  the  Churches  not  diocesan  bishops 240 

The  stars,  not  attached  to  the  candlesticks,  but  in  the  hand  of  Christ,  241 
The  angels  of  the  Churches  were  their  messengers  sent  to  visit  John 

in  Patmos 242 

Why  only  seven  angels  named, 244 


PERIOD   II. 

FROM    THE    DEATH    OF    THE   APOSTLE    JOHN    TO    THE    CON- 
VERSION  OF   CONSTANTINE. — A.D.    lOO  TO   A.D.    3 12. 


SECTION    I. 

THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

CHAPTER    I. 

THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

Prospects  of  the  Church  in  the  beginning-  of  the  second  century,  .  249 

Christianity  recommended  by  its  good  fruits, 251 

Diffusion  of  Scriptures  and  preparation  of  versions  in  other  languages,  251 

Doubtful  character  of  the  miracles  attributed  to  this  period,         .         .  253 

Remarkable  progress  of  the  Gospel,     .......  254 

Christianity  propagated  in  Africa,  France,  Thrace,  and  Scotland,        .  254 

Testimonies  to  its  success 255 

Gains  ground  rapidly  toward  the  close  of  the  third  century,         ,         .  256 

Its  progress,  how  to  be  tested 256 

CHAPTER   II. 

THE   PERSECUTIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Spectators  impressed  by  the  sufferings  of  the  Christians,     .         .         .  258 

The  blood  of  the  martyrs  the  seed  of  the  Church,         ....  258 

Persecution  j^romoted  the  purity  of  the  Church, 259 

Christian  graces  gloriously  displayed  in  times  of  persecution,       .         .  260 

Private  sufferings  of  the  Christians, 260 

How  far  the  Romans  acted  on  a  principle  of  toleration,         .         .         .  261 

Christianity  opposed  as  a  "new  religion," 262 

Correspondence  between  Pliny  and  Trajan, 262 

Law  of  Trajan, 263 

Martyrdom  of  Simeon  of  Jerusalem, 263 

(xxix) 


XXX  CONTENTS. 

Sufferings  of  Christians  under  Hadrian, 264 

Hadrian's  rescript 264 

Marcus  Aarelius  a  persecutor, 265 

Justin  and  Polycarp  martyred, 266 

Persecution  at  Lyons  and  Vienne, 267 

Absurd  passion  for  martyrdom, 267 

Treatment  of  the  Christians  by  Septimius  Severus,       ....  269 

The  Libellatici  and  Tburificati,     . 270 

Perpetua  and  Felicitas  martyred,  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .271 

Alexander  Severus  and  Philip  the  Arabian  favorable  to  the  Chris- 
tians,         272 

Persecution  under  Decius 274 

Persecution  under  Valerian, 274 

Gallienus  issues  an  edict  of  toleration, 275 

State  of  the  Church  during  the  last  forty  years  of  the  third  century,     .  275 

Diocletian  persecution, 276 

The  Traditors .         ,         .         .  277 

Cruelties  now  practiced 277 

Not  ten  general  persecutions, 279 

Deaths  of  the  persecutors, 279 

Causes  of  the  persecutions, 280 

The  sufferings  of  the  Christians  did  not  teach  them  toleration,    .         .  281 


CHAPTER   HI. 

FALSE    BRETHREN    AND    FALSE    PRINCIPLES   IN    THE  CHURCH: 
AND   CHARACTER  OF  THE  CHRISTIANS. 


Piety  of  the  early  Christians  not  superior  to  that  of  all  succeeding 
ages 

Covetous  and  immoral  pastors  in  the  ancient  Church, 

Asceticism  and  its  pagan  origin 

The  unmarried  clergy  and  the  virgins,  .... 

Paul  and  Antony  the  first  hermits 

Origin  of  the  use  of  the  sign  of  the  cross,     .... 

Opposition  of  the  Christians  to  image-worship,    . 

Image-makers  condemned,  ....... 

Objections  of  the  Christians  to  the  theatre,  the  gladiatorial  show 
other  public  spectacles, 

SupiTior  mor.ihty  of  the  mass  of  the  early  Christians,  . 

How  they  treated  the  question  of  polygamy, 

Condemned  intermarriages  with  heathens 

How  they  dealt  with  the  question  of  slavery, 

Influence  of  Christianity  on  ihe  condition  of  the  slave, 


s,  and 


283 
283 
284 
285 
286 
286 
289 
290 

291 

292 
292 

293 
293 
294 


CONTENTS.  XXXI 

Brotherly  love  of  the  Christians 295 

Their  kindness  to  distressed  heathens 296 

Christianity  fitted  for  all  mankind, 297 

CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  CHURCH   OF  ROME   IN   THE  SECOND   CENTURY. 

Weak  historical  foundation  of  Romanism,    ......  299 

Church  of  Rome  not  founded  by  either  Paul  or  Peter,  .         .         .300 

Its  probable  origin, 3°° 

Little  known  of  its  primitive  condition, 3°° 

Its  early  episcopal  succession  a  riddle, 3°^ 

Martyrdom  of  Telesphorus, 3°! 

Heresiarchs  in  Rome 3^2 

Its  presiding  presbyter  called  bishop,  and  invested  with  additional 

power,    ............  302 

Beginning  of  the  Catholic  system 3°2 

Changes  in  the  ecclesiastical  constitution  not  accomplished  without 

opposition 3°3 

Visit  of  Polycarp  to  Rome, '-303 

Why  so  much  deference  so  soon  paid  to  the  Roman  Church,       .         .  304 

Wealth  and  influence  of  its  members, 3^5 

Remarkable  testimony  of  Irenaeus  respecting  it, 3°^ 

Under  what  circumstances  given, ■  .  306 

Victor's  excommunication  of  the  Asiatic  Christians,     ....  308 

Extent  of  Victor's  jurisdiction 3^9 

Explanation  of  his  arrogance, 3^9 

First-fruits  of  the  Catholic  system, 3^1 

CHAPTER   V. 

THE  CHURCH   OF  ROME   IN   THE  THIRD   CENTUKY. 

Genuine  letters  of  the  early  bishops   of  Rome  and    false    Decretal 

epistles,  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .312 

Discovery  of  the  statue  of  Hippolytus  and  of  his  "  Philosophumena,"  .  313 

The  Roman  bishops  Zephyrinus  and  Callistus, 314 

Heresy  of  Zephyrinus, .  314 

Extraordinary  career  and  heresy  of  Callistus,        .....  315 

The  bishop  of  Rome  not  a  metropolitan  in  the  time  of  Hippolytus,      .  317 

Bishops  of  Rome  chosen  by  the  votes  of  clergy  and  people,          .         .  3'7 

Remarkable  election  of  Fabian, 318 

Discovery  of  the  catacombs, 318 

Origin  of  the  catacombs,  and  how  used  by  the  Christians  of  Rome,     .  319 

The  testimony  of  their  inscriptions, 320 


XXxii  CONTENTS. 

The  ancient  Roman  clergy  married, 321 

Severity   of    persecution  at   Rome    about   the    middle   of    the   third 

century, 322 

Four  Roman  bishops  martyred, 322 

Statistics  of  the  Roman  Church  about  this  period,         ....  323 

Schism  of  Novatian 324 

Controversy  respecting  rebaptism  of  heretics,  and  rashness  of  Stephen, 

bishop  of  Rome, 324 

Misinterpretation  of  Matt.  xvi.  18 325 

Increasing  power  of  Roman  bishop,     .......  327 

The  bishop  of  Rome  becomes  a  metrspolitan,  and  is  recognized  by  the 

Emperor  Aurelian 328 

Early  Roman  bishops  spoke  and  wrote  in  Greek,  ....  328 

Obscurity  of  their  early  annals,     , 328 

Advancement  of  their  power  during  the  second  and  third  centuries,    .  329 

Causes  of  their  remarkable  progress, 330 


SECTION    II. 

THE    LITERATURE     AND     THEOLOGY     OF     THE    CHURCH. 

CHAPTER    I. 

THE  ECCLESIASTICAL   WRITERS. 

The  amount  of  their  extant  writings 331 

The  Epistle  of  Polycarp 332 

Justin  Martyr,  his  history  and  his  works, 332 

The  Epistle  to  Diognetus, 334 

Tatian,  Athenagoras,  Theophilus,  and  Hermas 334 

The  Epistle  of  Barnabas  and  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas,         .         .         .  334 

Papias  and  Hegesippus, 335 

Irenaeus  and  his  Works,        . 335 

Tertullian,  his  character  and  writings, 336 

Clement  of  Alexandria, 339 

Hippolytus, .  340 

Minucius  F'elix, 341 

Origen — his  early  history  and  remarkable  career — his  great  learning — 
his  speculative  spirit — liis  treatise  against  Celsus  and  his  "  Hex- 

apla  " — his  theological  peculiarities 341 

Cyprian — his  training,  character,  and  writings 346 

Gregory  Thaumaturgus, 349 


CONTENTS.  XXxiu 

The  value  of  the  Fathers  as  ecclesiastical  authorities,  ....  349 

Their  erroneous  and  absurd  expositions, 350 

The  excellency  of  Scripture, 352 

CHAPTER    II. 

THE    IGNATIAN    EPISTLES  AND   THEIR    CLAIMS— THE    EXTERNAL  EVI- 
DENCE. 

The  journeys  undertaken  in  search  of  the  Ignatian  Epistles,  and  the 

amount  of  literature  to  which  they  have  given  birth,     .         .         .  354 

Why  these  letters  have  awakened  such  interest, 356 

The  story  of  Ignatius  and  its  difficulties, 356 

The  Seven  Epistles  known  to  Eusebius  and  those  which  appeared 

afterward, 358 

The  different  recensions  of  the  Seven  Letters  known  to  Eusebius,       .  359 

The  discovery  of  the  Syriac  version 360 

Diminished  size  of  the  Curetonian  Letters, 360 

The  testimony  of  Eusebius  considered, 362 

The  testimony  of  Origen,      .........  363 

The  Ignatian  Epistles  not  recognized  by  Irenseus  or  Polycarp,  .  .  364 
These  letters  not  known  to  Tertullian,  Hippolytus,  and  other  early 

writers, 365 

The  date  of  their  fabrication.  Their  multiplication  accounted  for,  .  372 
Remarkable  that  spurious  works  are  often  found  in  more  than  one 

edition, 374 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE  IGNATIAN    EPISTLES    AND    THEIR    CLAIMS— THE    INTERNAL  EVI- 
DENCE. 

The  history  of  these  epistles  like  the  story  of  the  Sibylline  books,         .  376 
The  three  Curetonian  Letters  as  objectionable  as  those  formerly  pub- 
lished   377 

The  style  suspicious,  challenged  by  Ussher, 377 

The  Word  of  God  strangely  ignored  in  these  letters,  ....  378 

Their  chronological  blunders  betray  their  forgery,        ....  380 

Various  words  in  them  have  a  meaning  which  they  did  not  acquire 

until  after  the  time  of  Ignatius,     .......  382 

Their  puerilities,  vaporing,  and  mysticism  betray  their  spuriousness,   .  384 

The  anxiety  for  martyrdom  displayed  in  them  attests  their  forgery,     .  385 
The  internal  evidence  confirms  the  view  already  taken  of  the  date  of 

their  fabrication,    .         .........  387 

Strange  attachment  of  Episcopalians  to  these  letters,  ....  389 

The  sagacity  of  Calvin, 389 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE   GNOSTICS,   THE   MONTANISTS,    AND   THE   MANICH^ANS. 

The  early  heresies  numerous 391 

The  systems  with  which  Christianity  had  to  struggle,  .         .         .  391 

The  leading  peculiarities  of  Gnosticism, 392 

The  yEons,  the  Demiurge,  and  the  Saviour, 394 

Saturninus,  Basilides,  and  Valentine, 395 

Marcion  and  Carpocrates 395 

Causes  of  the  popularity  of  Gnosticism,  and  its  defects,        .        .        .  396 

Montanus  and  his  system, 397 

His  success  and  condemnation 398 

Mani  and  his  doctrine  of  the  Two  Principles, 399 

The  Elect  and  Hearers  of  the  Manichasans, 400 

Martyrdom  of  Mani,      ..........  401 

Peculiarities  of  the  heretics  gradually  adopted  by  the  Catholic  Church,  401 

Doctrine  of  Venial  and  Mortal  Sins 401 

Doctrine  of  Purgatory 402 

Celibacy  and  Asceticism 404 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Leading  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  still  acknowledged,     ....  405 

Meaning  of  theological  terms  not  yet  exactly  defined,           .         .         .  405 

Scripture  venerated  and  studied, 407 

Extraordinary  Scriptural  acquirements  of  some  of  the  early  Christians,  407 

Doctrine  of  Plenary  Inspiration  of  Scripture  taught,     ....  409 

The  canon  of  the  New  Testament, 410 

Spurious  scriptures  and  tradition, 41 1 

Human  Depravity  and  Regeneration, 41 1 

Christ  worshipped  by  the  early  Christians, 411 

Christ  God  and  man, 412 

The  Ebionites,  Theodotus,  Artemon,  and  Paul  of  Samosata,       .         .412 

Doctrine  of  the  Trinity 413 

Praxeas,  Noctus,  and  Sabellius, 415 

Doctrine  of  the  Trinity  not  borrowed  from  Platonism,          .         .         .  416 

The  Atonement  and  Justification  by  Faith, 4' 7 

Grace  and  Predestination, 4' 7 

Theological  errors 418 

Our  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  does  not  depend  on  our  proximity  to  the 

days  of  the  Apostles, 418 


CONTENTS.  XXXV 

SECTION   III. 

THE    WORSHIP    AND    CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

CHAPTER   I. 

THE    WORSHIP    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

Splendor  of  the  Pagan  and  Jewish  worship — simplicity  of  Christian 

worship, •  421 

The  places  of  worship  of  the  early  Christians 422 

Psalmody  of  the  Church 423 

No  instrumental  music, '        .         .  424 

No  forms  of  prayer  used  by  the  early  pastors, 424 

Congregation  stood  at  prayer 425 

Worship,  how  conducted 426 

Scriptures  read  in  public  worship 426 

The  manner  of  preaching, 427 

Deportment  of  the  congregation, 428 

Dress  of  ministers 428 

Great  change  between  this  and  the  sixteenth  century,          .        .        .  428 

CHAPTER   n. 

BAPTISM. 

Polycarp  probably  baptized  in  infancy, 430 

Testimony  of  Justin  Martyr  and  Irenseus  for  Infant  Baptism,       .         .  431 

Testimony  of  Origen, 432 

Objections  of  Tertullian  examined 43a 

Sponsors  in  Baptism,  who  they  were 433 

The  Baptism  of  Blood 434 

Infant  Baptism  universal  in  Africa  in  the  days  of  Cyprian,  .         .         .  436 

The  mode  of  Baptism  not  considered  essential, 436 

Errors  respecting  Baptism,  and  new  rites  added  to  the  original  insti- 
tution,       437 

The  Baptismal  Service  the  germ  of  a  Church  Liturgy,          .         .         .  438 

Evils  connected  with  the  corruption  of  the  baptismal  institute,     .         .  438 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE   lord's  SUPPER. 

Danger  of  changing  any  part  of  a  typical  ordinance 44c 

How  the  Holy  Supper  was   administered  in  Rome   in  the   second 

century, 441 


XXXvi  CONTENTS. 

The  posture  of  the  communicants— sitting  and  standing,     .        .        .442 

The  bread  not  unleavened, 442 

Wine  mixed  with  water 442 

Bread  not  put  into  the  mouth  by  the  minister 442 

Infant  communion, 443 

How  often  the  Lord's  Supper  celebrated, 443 

The  words  Sacrament  and  Transubstantiation 443 

Bread  and  wine  types  or  symbols 444 

How  Christ  is  present  in  the  Eucharist, 444 

Growth  of  superstition  in  regard  to  the  Eucharist,        ....  445 

Danger  of  using  language  not  warranted  by  Scripture,        .        .        .  446 

CHAPTER   IV. 

CONFESSION  AND    PENANCE. 

Confession  often  made  at  Baptism  by  disciples  of  John  the  Baptist, 

and  of  Christ, 447 

The  early  converts  forthwith  baptized, 447 

In  the  second  century  fasting  preceded  Baptism,  ....  448 

The  exomologesis  of  penitents 44^ 

Influence  of  the  mind  on  the  body,  and  of  the  body  on  the  mind,        .  449 

Fasting  not  an  ordinary  duty, 449 

Fasts  of  the  ancient  Church,  .    • 45° 

Fasting  soon  made  a  test  of  repentance, 45° 

The  ancient  penitential  discipline 45  ^ 

Establishment  of  a  Penitentiary, 452 

Different  classes  of  penitents 452 

Auricular  confession  now  unknown, 452 

Increasing  spiritual  darkness  leads  to  confusion  of  terms,    .        .        .453 

CHAPTER   V. 

THE  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE  CHURCH   IN  THE  SECOND   CENTURY. 


Statement  of  Justin  Martyr, 

Great  obscurity  resting  on  the  subject,  .... 

Illustrated  by  the  Epistles  of  Clement  and  Polycarp,     . 
Circumstances  which  led  to  the  writing  of  Clement's  Epistle, 
Churches  of  Corinth  and  Rome  then  governed  by  presbyters, 
Churches  of  Smyrna  and  Philippi  governed  by  presbyters,  . 
The  presbyters  had  a  chairman  or  president. 

Traces  of  this  in  the  apostolic  age 

Early  catalogues  of  bishops— their  origin  and  contradictions, 
The  senior  presbyter  the  ancient  president,  .... 


454 
455 
456 
456 
457 
458 
459 
460 
460 
461 


CONTExNTS.  XXXvii 

Testimony  of  Hilary  confirmed  by  various  proofs,         ....  462 

Ancient  names  of  the  president  of  the  presbytery,         ....  463 

Great  age  of  ancient  bishops, 463 

Great  number  of  ancient  bishops  in  a  given  period 464 

Remarkable  case  of  the  Church  of  Jerusalem, 465 

No  parallel  to  it  in  more  recent  times, 466 

Argument  against  heretics  from  the  episcopal  succession  illustrated,  .  467 

The  claims  of  seniority  long  respected  in  various  ways,        .         .         ,  469 
The  power  of  the  presiding  presbyter  limited,  for  the  Church  was  still 

governed  by  the  common  council  of  the  presbyters,       .         .         .  470 

Change  of  the  law  of  seniority 471 

Change  made  about  the  end  of  the  second  century,      ....  472 
Singular  that  many  episcopal  lists  stop  at  the  end  of  the  second  cent- 
ury   472 

Before  that  date  only  one  bishop  in  Egypt, 474 

In  some  places  another  system  set  up  earlier, 474 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  RISE  OF  THE    HIERARCHY   CONNECTED   WITH    THE    SPREAD  OF 
HERESIES. 

Eusebius.     The  defects  of  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  ....  475 

Superior  erudition  of  Jerome .         .  476 

His  account  of  the  origin  of  Prelacy, 476 

Prelacy  originated  after  the  apostolic  age, 477 

Suggested  by  the  distractions  of  the  Church 478 

Formidable  and  vexatious  character  of  the  early  heresies,  .  .  .  483 
Mode  of  appointing  the  president  of  the  eldership  changed.     Popular 

election  of  bishops,  how  introduced 484 

The  various  statements  of  Jerome  consistent, 485 

The  primitive  moderator  and  the  bishop  contrasted,  ....  486 
How  the  decree  relative  to  a  change  in  the  ecclesiastical  constitution 

adopted  throughout  the  whole  world, 487 


CHAPTER   VII. 

PRELACY    BEGINS    IN    ROME. 

Comparative  length  of  the  lives  of  the  early  bishops  of  Rome,     .         .     489 
Observations  relative  to  a  change  in  the  organization  of  the  Roman 

Church  in  the  time  of  Hyginus, 490 

1.  The  statement  of  Hilary  will  account  for  the  increased  average  in 

the  length  of  episcopal  life 490 

2.  The  testimony  of  Jerome  can  not  otherwise  be  explained,      .        .     492 


CONTENTS. 


3.  Hilary  indicates  that  the  constitution  of  the  Church  was  changed 

about  this  period, 493 

4.  At  this  time  such  an  arrangement  must  naturally  have  suggested 

itself  to  the  Roman  Christians, 

5.  The  violent  death  of  Telesphorus  fitted  to  prepare  the  way  for  it, 

6.  The  influence  of  Rome  would  recommend  its  adoption, 

7.  A  vacancy  which  occurred  after  the  death  of  Hyginus  accords  with 

this  view.     Valentine  a  candidate  for  the  Roman  bishopric, 

8.  The  letters  of  Pius  to  Justus  corroborate  this  view, 

9.  It  is  sustained  by  the  fact  that  the  word  bishop  now  began  to  be 

applied  to  the  presiding  elder, 

10.  The  Pontifical  Book  remarkably  confirms  it — Not  strange  that 

history  speaks  so  little  of  this  change, 

Little  alteration  at  first  apparent  in  the  general  aspect  of  the  Church 

in  consequence  of  the  adoption  of  the  new  principle,  .  .  .  501 
Facility  with  which  the  change  could  be  accomplished,  .  .  .  503 
Polycarp  probably  dissatisfied  with  the  new  arrangements,  .         .     507 

Change,  in  all  likelihood,  not  much  opposed, 507 

Many  presbyters,  as  well  as  the  people,  would  be  favorable  to  it,          .     509 
The  new  system  gradually  spread, 510 


494 
494 
495 

496 

497 

497 
499 


CHAPTER   VHI. 

THE  CATHOLIC   SYSTEM. 

History  of  the  word  Catholic 

Circumstances  in  which  the  system  originated,     . 
The  bishop  the  centre  of  unity  for  his  district. 
Principal  or  Apostolic  Churches — their  position. 
The  Church  of  Rome  more  potentially  principal. 
How  communion  maintained  among  the  Churches, 
Early  jealousy  toward  the  bishop  of  Rome,  . 
The  Catholic  system  identified  with  Rome,  . 
Why  the  Apostle  Peter  everywhere  so  highly  exalted, 
Roman  bishops  sought  to  work  out  the  idea  of  unity, 
Theory  of  the  Catholic  system  fallacious. 
How  Rome  the  antitype  of  Babylon,     . 


5" 

512 

515 
515 
516 

517 
517 
518 

519 
520 
521 
522 


CHAPTER    IX. 

PRIMITIVE   EPISCOPACY   AND   PRESBYTERIAN   ORDINATION. 

Where  Christians  formed  only  a  single  congregation  Episcopacy  made 

little  change, 524 

The  bishop  the  parish  minister 524 

Every  one  who  could  might  preach  if  the  bishops  permitted,        .        .  525 


CONTENTS.  3 

Bishops  thickly  planted — all  of  equal  rank — the  greatest  had  very  limit 

ed  jurisdiction 

Ecclesiastics  often  engaged  in  secular  pursuits 

The  Alexandrian  presbyters  made  their  bishops, 

When  this  practice  ceased, 

Alexandrian  bishops  not  originally  ordained  by  imposition  of  hands, 

Roman  presbyters  and  others  made  their  bishops, 

The  bishop  the  presiding  elder — early  Roman  bishops  so  called. 

Bishops  of  the  order  of  the  presbytery, 

All  Christian  ministers  originally  ordained  by  presbyters,     . 

A  bishop  ordained  by  a  bishop  and  a  presbyter 

Difference  between  ancient  and  modern  bishops,         .        .        , 


526 
527 
528 
529 
530 
531 
531 
533 
534 
534 
535 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  PRELACY. 

Power  of  the  president  of  a  court, 537 

Power  of  the  ecclesiastical  president  increased  when  elected  by  the 

people, 538 

The  superior  wealth  of  the  bishop  added  to  his  influence,    .         .         .  538 

Appointment  of  lectors,  ^ub-deacons,  acolyths,  exorcists,  and  janitors,  539 

These  new  offices  first  appeared  in  Rome, 540 

Bishops   began   to   appoint   church   officers  without   consulting   the 

people, 540 

New  canons  relative  to  ordination 542 

Presbyters  ceased  to  inaugurate  bishops,      ......  543 

Presbyters  continued  to  ordain  presbyters  and  deacons,       .         .         .  543 

Country  bishops  deprived  of  the  right  to  ordain 544 

Account  of  their  degradation, 544 

Rise  of  metropolitans, 545 

Circumstances  which  added  to  the  power  of  the  city  bishops,      .         .  547 

One  bishop  in  each  province  at  the  head  of  the  rest,    ....  548 

Jealousies  and  contentions  of  city  bishops 548 

Great  change  in  the  Church  in  two  centuries,       .....  549 

Reasons  why  the  establishment  of  metropolitans  so  much  opposed,     .  550 

CHAPTER   XI. 

SYNODS — THEIR   HISTORY   AND   CONSTITUTION. 

Apostles  sought,  first,  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  then  the  edifica- 
tion of  their  converts 552 

No  general  union  of  Churches  originally, 553 

But  intercourse  in  various  ways  mamtained 553 

Synods  did  not  commence  about  the  hiiddle  of  the  second  century,     .  555 


Xl  CONTENTS. 

A  part  of  the  original  constitution  of  the  Church,         ....  555 

At  first  held  on  a  limited  scale 556 

Reason  why  we  have  no  account  of  early  Synods,        ....  556 

First  notice  of  Synods, 557 

Synods  held  respecting  the  Paschal  controversy,  .         .         .         .557 

Found  in  operation  everywhere  before  the  end  of  the  second  century,  557 
TertuUian  does  not  say  that  Synods  commenced  in  Greece,          .         .558 

Why  he  notices  the  Greek  Synods, 559 

Amphictyonic  Council  did  not  suggest  the  establishment  of  Synods,    .  561 

Synods  originally  met  only  once  a  year,         ......  561 

Began  to  meet  in  fixed  places  in  Greece  and  Asia  Minor,     .         .         .  562 

Met  twice  a  year  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,      .         .         .  562 

Synods  in  third  century  respecting  rebaptism, 563 

Synods  at  Antioch  respecting  Paul  of  Samosata,           ....  563 

Early  Synods  composed  of  bishops  and  elders, 564 

Deacons  and  laymen  had  no  right  of  voting, 564 

Churches  not  originally  independent, 565 

Utility  of  Synods, 566 

Circumstances  which  led  to  a  change  in  their  constitution, .         .         .  566 

Decline  of  primitive  polity, 567 

CHAPTER   XII. 

THE  CEREMONIES   AND   DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  CHURCH,  AS  ILLUSTRATED 
BY   CURRENT   CONTROVERSIES  AND  DIVISIONS. 

The  rise  of  the  Nazarenes 568 

Lessons  taught  by  their  history, 569 

The  Paschal  controversy  and  Victor's  excommunication,     .         .         .  570 

Danger  of  dej)ending  on  tradition,         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  572 

Institution  of  Easter  unnecessary, 573 

The  tickets  of  peace  and  the  schism  of  Felicissimus 574 

Schism  of  Novatian 575 

Controversy  respecting  the  baptism  of  heretics,  and  Stephen's  excom- 
munication,   . 576 

Uniformity  in  discipline  and  ceremonies  not  to  be  found  in  the  ancient 

Church, 577 

Increasing  intolerance  of  the  dominant  party  in  the  Church,        .         .  578 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE    THEORY   OF    THE    CHURCH,   AND  THE    HISTORY   OF    ITS   PERVER- 
SION— CONCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS. 

The  Church  invisible  and  its  attributes, 580 

The  visible  Church  and  its  defects, 581 


CONTENTS.  xli 

The  holy  Catholic  Church — what  it  meant, 582 

Church  visible  and  Church  invisible  confounded,           ....  583 

Evils  of  the  Catholic  system, 585 

Establishment  of  an  odious  ecclesiastical  monopoly,     ....  585 

Pastors  began  to  be  called  priests, 587 

Arrogant  assumptions  of  bishops, 589 

The  Catholic  system  encouraged  bigotry, 589 

Its  ungenerous  spirit, .  590 

The  claims  of  the  Word  of  God  not  properly  recognized,     .         .         .  591 

Many  corruptions  already  in  the  Church, 593 

The  establishment  of  the  hierarchy  a  grand  mistake,    ....  595 

Only  promoted  outward,  not  real  unity, 595 

Sad  state  of  the  Church  when  Catholicism  was  fully  developed,  .        .  597 

Evangelical  unity — in  what  it  consists, 598 


PERIOD  I. 

FROM  THE  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  TO  THE  DEATH  OF 
THE   APOSTLE   JOHN,  A.D.  100. 


SECTION  I. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   PLANTING  AND   GROWTH   OF  THE 
APOSTOLIC  CHURCH. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  AT  THE  TIME  OF  THE  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST. 

Upwards  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  before  the  Birth  of 
Christ,  the  grandnephew  of  Julius  Caesar  had  become  sole 
master  of  the  Roman  world.  Never  at  any  former  period  had 
so  many  human  beings  acknowledged  the  authority  of  a  single 
potentate.  Some  of  the  most  powerful  monarchies  at  present 
in  Europe  extend  over  only  a  fraction  of  the  territory  which 
Augustus  governed.  The  Atlantic  on  the  west,  the  Euphrates 
on  the  east,  the  Danube  and  the  Rhine  on  the  north,  and  the 
deserts  of  Africa  on  the  south,  were  the  boundaries  of  his 
empire. 

We  do  not  adequately  estimate  the  rank  of  Augustus  among 
contemporary  sovereigns,  when  we  consider  merely  the  super- 
ficial extent  of  the  countries  placed  within  the  range  of  his 
jurisdiction.  His  subjects  formed  more  than  one-third  of  the 
entire  population  of  the  globe,  and  amounted  to  one  hundred 
millions  of  souls.'  His  empire  embraced  within  its  immense 
circumference  the  best  cultivated  and  the  most  civilized  por- 

*  Mr.  Merivale,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Romans  under  the  Empire  "  (vol. 
iv.,  p.  450),  estimates  the  population  in  the  time  of  Augustus  at  eighty-five 
millions,  but  in  this  reckoning  he  does  not  include  Palestine,  and  perhaps 
some  of  his  calculations  are  rather  low.  Greswell  computes  the  population 
of  Palestine  at  ten  millions,  and  that  of  the  whole  empire  at  one  hundred 
and  twenty  millions.  ("  Dissertations  upon  an  Harmony  of  the  Gospels," 
vol.  iv.,  p.  II,  493.) 


2  THE   ROMAN   EMPIRE   AT 

tions  of  the  earth.  The  remains  of  its  populous  cities,  its 
great  fortresses,  its  extensive  aqueducts,  and  its  stately  tem- 
ples, still  exist  as  memorials  of  its  grandeur.  The  capital  was 
connected  with  the  most  distant  provinces  by  carefully  con- 
structed roads,  along  which  the  legions  could  march  with  ease 
and  promptitude,  either  to  quell  an  internal  insurrection,  or  to 
encounter  an  invading  enemy.  And  the  military  resources  at 
the  command  of  Augustus  were  abundantly  sufficient  to  main- 
tain obedience  among  the  myriads  whom  he  governed.  After 
the  victory  of  Actium  he  was  at  the  head  of  upwards  of  forty 
veteran  legions  ;  and  though  some  of  these  had  been  deci- 
mated by  war,  yet,  when  recruited,  and  furnished  with  their 
full  complement  of  auxiliaries,  they  constituted  a  force  of  little 
less  than  half  a  million  of  soldiers. 

The  arts  of  peace  now  flourished  under  the  sunshine  of  im- 
perial patronage.  Augustus  could  boast,  toward  the  end  of 
his  reign,  that  he  had  converted  Rome  from  a  city  of  brick 
huts  into  a  city  of  marble  palaces.  The  wealth  of  the  nobility 
was  enormous  ;  and,  excited  by  the  example  of  the  Emperor 
and  his  friend  Agrippa,  they  erected  and  decorated  mansions 
in  a  style  of  regal  magnificence.  The  taste  cherished  in  the 
capital  was  soon  widely  diffused ;  and,  in  a  short  period,  many 
new  and  gorgeous  temples  and  cities  appeared  throughout  the 
empire.  Herod  the  Great  expended  vast  sums  on  architect- 
ural improvements.  The  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  rebuilt  under 
his  administration,  was  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world. 

The  century  terminating  with  the  death  of  Augustus  claims 
an  undisputed  pre-eminence  in  the  history  of  Roman  eloquence 
and  literature.  Cicero,  the  prince  of  Latin  orators,  now  deliv- 
ered those  addresses  which  perpetuate  his  fame  ;  Sallust  and 
Livy  produced  works  still  regarded  as  models  of  historic  com- 
position ;  Horace,  Virgil,  and  others,  acquired  celebrity  as 
gifted  and  accomplished  poets.  Among  the  subjects  fitted  to 
exercise  and  expand  the  intellect,  religion  was  not  overlooked. 
In  the  great  cities  of  the  empire  many  were  to  be  found  who 
devoted  themselves  to  metaphysical  and  ethical  studies  ;  and 
questions,  bearing  on  the  highest  interests  of  man,  were  dis- 
cussed in  the  schools  of  the  philosophers. 


THE   TIME    OF   THE   BIRTH   OF   CHRIST.  3 

The  barbarous  nations  under  the  dominion  of  Augustus  de- 
rived many  advantages  from  their  connection  with  the  Roman 
empire.  They  had  often  reason  to  complain  of  the  injustice 
and  rapacity  of  provincial  governors  ;  but,  on  the  whole,  they 
had  a  larger  share  of  social  comfort  than  they  could  have  en- 
joyed had  they  preserved  their  independence  ;  for  their  do- 
mestic feuds  were  repressed  by  the  presence  of  their  powerful 
rulers,  and  the  imperial  armies  were  at  hand  to  protect  them 
against  foreign  aggression.  By  means  of  the  constant  inter- 
course kept  up  with  all  its  dependencies,  the  skill  and  infor- 
mation of  the  metropolis  of  Italy  were  gradually  imparted  to 
the  rude  tribes  under  its  sway  ;  and  thus  the  conquest  of  a 
savage  country  by  the  Romans  was  an  important  step  toward 
its  civilization.  The  union  of  so  many  nations  in  a  great  state 
was  otherwise  beneficial  to  society.  A  Roman  citizen  could 
travel  without  hindrance  from  Armenia  to  the  British  Channel ; 
and  as  all  the  countries  washed  by  the  Mediterranean  were 
subject  to  the  empire,  their  inhabitants  carried  on  a  regular 
and  prosperous  traffic  by  availing  themselves  of  the  facilities 
of  navigation. 

The  conquests  of  Rome  modified  the  vernacular  dialects  of 
not  a  few  of  its  subjugated  provinces,  and  greatly  promoted 
the  diffusion  of  Latin.  That  language,  which  had  gradually 
spread  throughout  Italy  and  the  west  of  Europe,  was  at  length 
understood  by  persons  of  rank  and  education  in  most  parts  of 
the  empire.  But  in  the  time  of  Augustus,  Greek  was  spoken 
still  more  extensively.  Several  centuries  before,  it  had  been 
planted  in  all  the  countries  conquered  by  Alexander  the 
Great ;  and  it  was  now  not  only  the  most  general,  but  also  the 
most  fashionable  medium  of  communication.  Even  Rome 
swarmed  with  learned  Greeks,  who  employed  their  native 
tongue  when  giving  instruction  in  the  higher  branches  of  edu- 
cation. Greece  itself,  however,  was  considered  the  headquar- 
ters of  intellectual  cultivation  ;  and  the  wealthier  Romans  were 
wont  to  send  their  sons  to  its  celebrated  seats  of  learning,  to 
improve  their  acquaintance  with  philosophy  and  literature. 

The  Roman  Empire  in  the  time  of  Augustus  presents  to 
the  eye  of  contemplation  a  most  interesting  spectacle,  whether 


4  THE   ROMAN   EMPIRE   AT 

we  survey  its  territorial  magnitude,  its  political  power,  or  its 
intellectual  activity.  But  when  we  look  more  minutely  at  its 
condition,  we  discover  many  other  strongly  marked  and  less 
inviting  features.  That  stern  patriotism,  which  imparted  so 
much  dignity  to  the  old  Roman  character,  had  disappeared, 
and  its  place  was  occupied  by  ambition  or  covetousness.  Ve- 
nality reigned  throughout  every  department  of  the  public 
administration.  Those  domestic  virtues,  which  are  at  once 
the  ornaments  and  the  strength  of  the  community,  were  com- 
paratively rare  ;  and  the  prevalence  of  luxury  and  licentious- 
ness proclaimed  the  unsafe  state  of  the  social  fabric.  There 
was  a  growing  disposition  to  evade  the  responsibilities  of  mar- 
riage, and  a  large  portion  of  the  citizens  of  Rome  deliberately 
preferred  the  system  of  concubinage  to  the  state  of  wedlock. 
The  civil  wars  which  had  created  such  confusion  and  involved 
such  bloodshed,  had  passed  away  ;  but  the  peace  which  fol- 
lowed was  rather  the  quietude  of  exhaustion  than  the  repose 
of  contentment. 

The  state  of  the  Roman  Empire  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of 
Christ  abundantly  proves  that  there  is  no  necessary  connection 
between  intellectual  refinement  and  social  regeneration.  The 
cultivation  of  the  arts  and  sciences  in  the  reign  of  Augustus 
was  beneficial  to  a  few,  by  diverting  them  from  the  pursuit  of 
vulgar  pleasures,  and  opening  up  to  them  sources  of  more  ra- 
tional enjoyment ;  but  during  the  brightest  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  Roman  literature,  vice  in  every  form  was  fast  gaining 
ground  among  almost  all  classes  of  the  population.  The 
Greeks,  though  occupying  a  higher  position  as  to  mental  ac- 
complishments, were  still  more  dissolute  than  the  Latins. 
Among  them  literature  and  sensuality  appeared  in  revolting 
combination,  for  their  courtesans  were  the  only  females  who 
attended  to  the  culture  of  the  intellect.' 

Nor  is  it  strange  that  the  Roman  Empire  at  this  period  ex- 
hibited such  a  scene  of  moral  pollution.  There  was  nothing 
in  either  the  philosophy  or  the  religion  of  heathenism  sufficient 
to  counteract  the   influence  of  man's  native  depravity.     In 

'  See  the  article  'ETai/mi  in  Smith's  "  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman 
Antiquities." 


THE   TIME   OF   THE   BIRTH   OF   CHRIST.  5 

many  instances,  the  speculations  of  the  pagan  sages  had  a 
tendency  rather  to  weaken  than  to  sustain  the  authority  of 
conscience.  After  unsetthng  the  foundations  of  the  ancient 
superstition,  the  mind  was  left  in  doubt  and  bewilderment ; 
for  the  votaries  of  what  was  called  wisdom  entertained  widely 
different  views  even  of  its  elementary  principles.  The  Epi- 
cureans, who  formed  a  large  section  of  the  intellectual  aris- 
tocracy, denied  the  doctrine  of  Providence,  and  pronounced 
pleasure  to  be  the  ultimate  end  of  man  ;  the  Academics  en- 
couraged a  spirit  of  disputatious  scepticism  ;  and  the  Stoics, 
who  taught  that  the  practice  of,  what  they  vaguely  designated, 
virtue,  involves  its  own  reward,  discarded  the  idea  of  a  future 
retribution.  Plato  had  still  a  goodly  number  of  disciples  ;  and 
though  his  doctrines,  containing  not  a  few  elements  of  sub- 
limity and  beauty,  exercised  a  better  influence,  they  consti- 
tuted a  most  unsatisfactory  system  of  cold  and  barren  mysti- 
cism. The  ancient  philosophers  delivered  many  excellent 
moral  precepts  ;  but,  as  they  wanted  the  light  of  revelation, 
their  arguments  in  support  of  duty  were  essentially  defective, 
and  the  lessons  which  they  taught  had  often  very  little  influ- 
ence either  on  themselves  or  others."  Their  own  conduct 
seldom  marked  them  out  as  greatly  superior  to  those  around 
them,  so  that  neither  their  instructions  nor  their  example  con- 
tributed efficiently  to  elevate  the  character  of  their  generation. 
Though  the  philosophers  fostered  a  spirit  of  inquiry,  yet,  as 
they  made  little  progress  in  the  discovery  of  truth,  they  were 
not  qualified  to  act  with  the  skill  and  energy  of  enlightened 
reformers  ;  and,  whatever  may  have  been  the  amount  of  their 
convictions,  they  made  no  open  and  resolute  attack  on  the 
popular  mythology.  A  very  superficial  examination  was,  in- 
deed, enough  to  shake  the  credit  of  the  heathen  worship. 
The  reflecting  subjects  of  the  Roman  Empire  might  have  re- 
marked the  very  awkward  contrast  between  the  multiplicity 
of  their  deities  and  the  unity  of  their  political  government. 

'  "  We  despise,"  says  an  early  Christian  writer,  "  the  supercilious  looks 
of  philosophers,  whom  we  have  known  to  be  the  corrupters  of  innocence, 
adulterers,  and  tyrants,  and  eloquent  declaimers  against  vices  of  which  they 
themselves  are  guilty." — Octavius  of  Minucius  Felix. 


6  THE   ROMAN   EMPIRE   AT 

It  was  the  common  belief  that  every  nation  had  its  own  divine 
guardians,  and  that  the  rehgious  rites  of  one  country  could  be 
fully  acknowledged  without  impugning  the  claims  of  those  of 
another ;  but  still  a  thinking  pagan  might  have  been  staggered 
by  the  consideration  that  a  human  being  had  apparently  more 
extensive  authority  than  some  of  his  celestial  overseers,  and 
that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Roman  emperor  was  established 
over  a  more  ample  territory  than  that  which  was  assigned  to 
many  of  the  immortal  gods. 

But  the  multitude  of  its  divinities  was  by  no  means  the 
most  offensive  feature  of  heathenism.  The  gods  of  antiquity, 
particularly  those  of  Greece,  were  of  infamous  character. 
Whilst  they  were  represented  by  their  votaries  as  excelling  in 
beauty  and  activity,  strength  and  intelligence,  they  were  also 
described  as  envious  and  gluttonous,  base,  lustful,  and  revenge- 
ful, Jupiter,  the  king  of  the  gods,  was  deceitful  and  licen- 
tious ;  Juno,  the  queen  of  heaven,  was  cruel  and  tyrannical. 
What  could  be  expected  from  those  who  honored  such  deities? 
Some  of  the  wiser  heathens,  such  as  Plato,'  condemned  their 
mythology  as  immoral — for  the  conduct  of  one  or  other  of  the 
gods  might  have  been  quoted  in  vindication  of  every  species 
of  transgression  ;  and  had  the  Gentiles  but  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  their  own  heavenly  hierarchy,  they  could  have  found 
apologies  for  perpetrating  the  very  worst  forms  of  fraud,  op- 
pression, or  profligacy.' 

At  the  time  of  the  birth  of  our  Lord  even  the  Jews  had 
sunk  into  a  state  of  the  grossest  degeneracy.  They  were  di- 
vided into  sects,  two  of  which,  the  Pharisees  and  the  Saddu- 
cees,  are  frequently  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament.  The 
Pharisees  were  the  leading  denomination,  being  by  far  the 
most  numerous  and  powerful.     By  adding  to  the  written  law 

'  "  De  Republ.,"  ii. 

^  In  the  "  Octavius  of  Minucius  Felix  "  (c.  25),  we  meet  with  the  follow- 
ing startling  challenge  :  "  Where  are  there  more  bargains  for  debauchery 
made,  more  assignations  concerted,  or  more  adultery  devised  than  by  the 
priests  amidst  the  altars  and  shrines  of  the  gods  }  "  This,  of  course,  refers 
to  the  state  of  things  in  the  third  century,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  it  was  now  much  better.  Tertullian  speaks  in  the  same  manner 
(" Apol.,''  c.  15).     See  also  "Juvenal,"  sat.  vi.  488,  and  ix.  23. 


THE   TIME   OF   THE   BIRTH   OF   CHRIST.  / 

a  mass  of  absurd  or  frivolous  traditions,  which,  as  they  fool- 
ishly alleged,  were  handed  down  from  Moses,  they  subverted 
the  authority  of  the  sacred  record  ;  and  changed  the  religion 
of  the  patriarchs  and  prophets  into  a  wearisome  parade  of 
superstitious  observances.  The  Sadducees  were  compara- 
tively few,  but  as  a  large  proportion  of  them  were  persons  of 
rank  and  wealth,  they  possessed  considerable  influence.  It 
has  been  said  that  they  admitted  the  divine  authority  only  of 
the  Pentateuch,'  and  though  they  may  not  have  openly  de- 
nied the  claims  of  all  the  other  books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
it  is  certain  that  they  discarded  the  doctrine  of  the  immortal- 
ity of  the  soul,'^  and  that  they  were  disposed  to  self-indulgence 
and  scepticism.  Another  still  smaller  Jewish  sect,  that  of  the 
Essenes,  is  not  directly  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament. 
The  members  of  this  community  resided  chiefly  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Dead  Sea  ;  and  as  our  Lord  seldom  visited 
that  quarter  of  the  country  during  the  course  of  His  public 
ministry,  He  rarely  or  never  came  in  contact  with  these  relig- 
ionists.  Some  of  them  were  married,  but  the  greater  number 
lived  in  celibacy,  and  spent  much  of  their  time  in  contempla- 
tion. They  are  said  to  have  had  a  common  purse,  and  their 
course  of  life  closely  resembled  that  of  the  monks  of  after- 
times. 

Though  the  Jews,  as  a  nation,  were  sunk  in  sensuality  or 
superstition,  some  among  them,  such  as  Simeon  and  Anna, 
noticed  in  the  Gospel  of  Luke/  were  taught  of  God,  and  ex- 
hibited a  spirit  of  vital  piety.  "  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  per- 
fect, converting  the  soul,"  and  as  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment were  committed  to  the  keeping  of  the  posterity  of 
Abraham,  "  hidden  ones  "  here  and  there  discovered  the  way 
to  heaven  by  the  perusal  of  these  "  lively  oracles."  The  Jews 
were  faithful  conservators  of  the  inspired  volume,  as  Christ 
uniformly  takes  for  granted  the  accuracy  of  their  "  Script- 
ures." *     They  did  not  admit    into  their  canon  the  writings 

'  "  Origen.  Contra  Celsum,"  lib.  i.,  c.  49. 

^  Matt.  xxii.  23.  '  Luke  ii.  25,  36. 

*  See  Matt.  v.  18  ;  John  v.  39,  and  x.  35. 


8  THE   ROMAN   EMPIRE   AT 

known  as  the  Apocrypha.^  Nearly  three  hundred  years  before 
the  appearance  of  our  Lord,  the  Old  Testament  had  been 
translated  into  the  Greek  language,  and  thus,  at  this  period,  the 
educated  portion  of  the  population  of  the  Roman  Empire  had 
all  an  opportunity  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  religion 
of  the  chosen  people.  The  Jews  were  scattered  over  the 
earth,  and  as  they  erected  synagogues  in  the  cities  where  they 
settled,  the  Gentile  world  had  ample  means  of  information  in 
reference  to  their  faith  and  worship. 

Whilst  the  dispersion  of  the  Jews  disseminated  a  knowledge 
of  their  religion,  it  suggested  the  approaching  dissolution  of 
the  Mosaic  economy — as  it  was  apparent  that  their  present 
circumstances  absolutely  required  another  ritual.  It  was  not 
to  be  expected  that  individuals  dwelling  in  distant  countries 
could  meet  three  times  in  the  year  at  Jerusalem  to  celebrate 
the  great  festivals.  The  Israelites  themselves  had  a  presenti- 
ment of  coming  changes,  and  anxiously  awaited  the  appear- 
ance of  a  Messiah.  They  were  actuated  by  an  extraordinary 
zeal  for  proselytism,"  and  though  their  scrupulous  adherence 
to  a  stern  code  of  ceremonies  often  exposed  them  to  much 
obloquy,  they  succeeded,  notwithstanding,  in  making  many 
converts  in  most  of  the  places  where  they  resided.^  A  prom- 
inent article  of  their  creed  was  adopted  in  a  quarter  where 

'  See  Josephus  against  Apion,  i.,  §  8.  Origen  says  that  the  Hebrews  had 
twenty-two  sacred  books  corresponding  to  the  number  of  letters  \\\  their 
alphabet.  (Opera,  ii.  528.)  Jerome  states  that  they  reckoned  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner :  they  considered  the  Twelve  Minor  Prophets  only  one  book  ; 
First  and  Second  Samuel,  one  book ;  First  and  Second  Kings,  one  book  ; 
First  and  Second  Chronicles,  one  book  ;  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  one  book  ; 
Jeremiah  and  Lamentations,  one  book  ;  the  Pentateuch,  five  books  ;  Judges 
and  Ruth,  one  book  ;  thus  with  the  other  ten  books  of  Joshua,  Esther,  Job, 
Psalms,  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes^  Canticles,  Isaiah,  Ezekiel,  and  Daniel,  mak- 
ing up  twenty-two.  The  most  learned  Roman  Catholic  writers  admit  that 
what  are  called  the  apocryphal  books  were  never  acknowledged  by  the  Jew- 
ish Church.  See,  for  example,  Dupin's  "  History  of  Ecclesiastical  Writers," 
Preliminary  Dissertation,  section  ii.  See  also  Father  Simon's  "  Critical 
History  of  the  Old  Testament,"  book  i.,  chap.  viii. 

*  Matt,  xxiii.  15. 

•  Many  proofs  of  this  occur  in  the  Acts.  See  Acts  x.  2,  xiii.  43,  xvi.  14, 
xvii.  4. 


THE   TIME   OF   THE   BIRTH   OF   CHRIST.  9 

their  theology  otherwise  found  no  favor,  for  the  Unity  of  the 
Great  First  Cause  was  distinctly  acknowledged  in  the  schools 
of  the  philosophers.' 

From  the  preceding  statements  we  see  the  peculiar  signifi- 
cance of  the  announcement  that  God  sent  forth  His  Son  into 
the  world  "  when  the  fulness  of  the  thne  was  come."  '  Various 
predictions '  pointed  out  this  age  as  the  period  of  the  Mes- 
siah's Advent  ;  and  Gentiles,  as  well  as  Jews,  had  by  some 
means  caught  up  the  expectation  that  an  extraordinary  per- 
sonage was  about  to  present  himself  on  the  theatre  of  human 
existence.*  Providence  had  obviously  prepared  the  way  for 
the  labors  of  a  religious  reformer.  The  civil  wars  which  had 
convulsed  the  State  were  almost  forgotten,  and  though  the 
hostile  movements  of  the  Germans  and  other  barbarous  tribes 
on  the  confines  of  the  empire  occasionally  created  uneasiness 
or  alarm,  the  public  mind  was  generally  unoccupied  by  any 
great  topic  of  absorbing  interest.  In  the  populous  cities  the 
multitude  languished  for  excitement ;  and  sought  to  dissipate 
time  in  the  forum,  the  circus,  or  the  amphitheatre.  At  such 
a  crisis  the  heralds  of  the  most  gracious  message  that  ever 
greeted  the  ears  of  men  might  hope  for  a  patient  hearing. 
Even  the  consolidation  of  so  many  nations  under  one  govern- 
ment tended  to  "  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel ";  for  the 
gigantic  roads,  which  radiated  from  Rome  to  the  distant  re- 
gions of  the  east  and  of  the  west,  facilitated  intercourse  ;  and 
the  messengers  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  travelled  from  country 
to  country  without  suspicion  and  without  passports.  Well 
might  the  Son  of  God  be  called  "  The  desire  of  all  nations."  * 
Though  the  wisest  of  the  pagan  sages  could  not  have  described 
the  renovation  which  the  human  family  required,  and  though, 
when  the  Redeemer  actually  appeared,  He  was  despised  and 

*  See  Cudworth's  "Intellectual  System,"  i.  318,  etc.  Edition,  London, 
1845,  Warburton  has  adduced  evidence  to  prove  that  this  doctrine  was 
imparted  to  the  initiated  in  the  heathen  mysteries.  "  Divine  Legation  of 
Moses,"  i.  224.     Edit.,  London,  1837. 

*  Gal.  iv.  4.  5  Gen.  xlix.  10  ;  Dan.  ix.  25  ;  Haggai  ii.  6,  7. 

*  Virgil,  Ec.  iv.     Suetonius,  Octavius,  94.     Tacitus,  Histor.  v.  13. 
^  Haggai  ii.  7. 


10         THE   ROMAN   EMPIRE   AT   THE   BIRTH   OF   CHRIST. 

rejected  of  men,  there  was,  withal,  a  widespread  conviction 
that  a  Saviour  was  required,  and  there  was  a  longing  for  de- 
liverance from  the  evils  which  oppressed  society.  The  ancient 
superstitions  were  rapidly  losing  their  hold  on  the  affection 
and  confidence  of  the  people,  and  whilst  the  light  of  philosophy 
was  sufficient  to  discover  the  absurdities  of  the  prevailing 
polytheism,  it  failed  to  reveal  any  more  excellent  way  of  pu- 
rity and  comfort.  The  ordinances  of  Judaism,  "waxing  old  " 
and  "  ready  to  vanish  away,"  were  types  still  unfulfilled  ;  and 
though  they  pointed  out  the  path  to  glory,  they  required  an 
interpreter  to  expound  their  import.  This  Great  Teacher  now 
appeared.  He  was  born  in  very  humble  circumstances,  and 
yet  He  was  the  heir  of  an  empire  beyond  comparison  more 
illustrious  than  that  of  the  Caesars.  "  There  was  given  him 
dominion,  and  glory,  and  a  kingdom,  that  all  people,  nations, 
and  languages  should  serve  him  ;  his  dominion  is  an  everlast- 
ing dominion,  which  shall  not  pass  away,  and  his  kingdom 
that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed." ' 

*  Dan.  vii.  14. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   LIFE   OF   CHRIST. 

Nearly  three  years  before  the  commencement  of  our  era/. 
Jesus  Christ  was  born.  The  Holy  Child  was  introduced  into 
the  world  under  circumstances  extremely  humiliating.  A  de- 
cree had  gone  forth  from  Csesar  Augustus  that  all  the  Roman 
Empire  should  be  taxed,  and  the  Jews,  as  a  conquered  people, 
were  obliged  to  submit  to  an  arrangement  which  proclaimed 
their  national  degradation.  The  reputed  parents  of  Jesus  re- 
sided at  Nazareth,  a  town  of  Galilee ;  but,  as  they  were  "  of 
the  house  and  lineage  of  David,"  they  were  obliged  to  repair 
to  Bethlehem,  a  village  about  six  miles  south  of  Jerusalem,  to 
be  entered  in  their  proper  place  in  the  imperial  registry. 
"And  so  it  was,  that,  while  they  were  there,  the  days  were  ac- 
complished that  Mary  should  be  delivered,  and  she  brought 
forth  her  first-born  son,  and  wrapped  him  in  swaddling  clothes, 
and  laid  him  in  a  manger ;  because  there  was  no  room  for 
them  in  the  inn."  " 

This  child  of  poverty  and  of  a  despised  race,  born  in  the 
stable  of  the  lodging-house  of  an  insignificant  town  belonging 
to  a  conquered  province,  did  not  enter  upon  life  surrounded 
by  associations  which  betokened  a  career  of  earthly  pros- 
perity. But  intimations  were  not  wanting  that  the  son  of 
Mary  was  regarded  with  the  deepest  interest  by  the  inhabi- 
tants of  heaven.  An  angel  had  announced  .the  conception  of 
the  individual  who  was  the   herald  of  His  ministry;^    and 

'  See  Supplementary  Note  at  the  end  of  this  chapter  on  the  year  of 
Christ's  Birth. 

"^  Luke  ii.  6,  7.  *  Luke  i.  11,  19. 

(II) 


12  THE   WISE   MEN   FROM   THE   EAST. 

another  angel  had  given  notice  of  the  incarnation  of  this  Great 
DeHverer.'  When  He  was  born,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  com- 
municated the  tidings  to  shepherds  in  the  plains  of  Bethle- 
hem ;  "  and  suddenly  there  was  with  the  angel  a  multitude  of 
the  heavenly  host,  praising  God  and  saying.  Glory  to  God  in 
the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good-will  toward  men," '  In- 
animate nature  called  attention  to  the  advent  of  the  illustrious 
babe,  for  a  wonderful  star  made  known  to  wise  men  from  the 
east  the  incarnation  of  the  King  of  Israel ;  and  when  they 
came  to  Jerusalem  "  the  star,  which  they  saw  in  the  east,  went 
before  them,  till  it  came  and  stood  over  where  the  young  child 
was." '  The  history  of  these  eastern  sages  can  not  now  be  ex- 
plored, and  we  know  not  on  what  grounds  they  regarded  the 
star  as  the  sign  of  the  Messiah ;  but  they  rightly  interpreted 
the  appearance,  and  the  narrative  warrants  us  to  infer  that 
they  acted  under  the  guidance  of  divine  illumination.  As 
they  were  "  warned  of  God  in  a  dream  " '  to  return  to  their 
own  country  another  way,  it  may  be  that  they  were  originally 
directed  by  some  similar  communication  to  undertake  the 
journey.  If,  as  is  probable,  they  did  not  belong  to  the  stock 
of  Abraham,  their  visit  to  the  babe  at  Bethlehem  was  the  har- 
binger of  the  union  of  Jews  and  Gentiles  under  the  new  econ- 
omy. The  presence  of  these  Orientals  in  Jerusalem  attracted 
the  notice  of  the  watchful  and  jealous  tyrant  who  then  oc- 
cupied the  throne  of  Judea.  Their  story  filled  him  with  alarm, 
and  his  subjects  anticipated  some  tremendous  outbreak  of  his 
suspicious  and  savage  temper.  "  When  Herod  the  king  had 
heard  these  things,  he  was  troubled,  and  all  Jerusalem  with 
him." '  His  rage  soon  vented  itself  in  a  terrible  explosion. 
Having  ascertained  from  the  chief  priests  and  scribes  of  the 

'  Luke  i.  26,  31.        ^  Luke  ii.  13,  14.         '  Matt.  ii.  9.         *  Matt.  ii.  12. 

'  Matt.  ii.  3.  The  evangelist  does  not  positively  assert  that  the  wise 
men  met  Herod  af  Jerusalem.  On  their  arrival  in  the  holy  city  he  was 
probably  at  Jericho — distant  about  a  day's  journey— for  Josephus  states  that 
he  died  there.  ("  Antiq."  xvii.  6,  §  5,  and  8,  §1.)  We  may  infer,  therefore, 
that  he  "  heard  "  of  the  strangers,  on  his  sick-bed,  and  "  privily  called  " 
them  to  Jericho,  The  chief  priests  and  scribes  were,  perhaps,  summoned 
to  attend  him  at  the  same  place. 


THE   HOLY   CHILD.  1 3 

people  where  Christ  was  to  be  born,  he  "  sent  forth  and  slew 
all  the  children  that  were  in  Bethlehem,  and  in  all  the  coasts 
thereof,  from  two  years  old  and  under." ' 

Joseph  and  Mary,  in  accordance  with  a  message  from  heaven, 
had  meanwhile  fled  toward  the  border  of  Egypt,  and  thus  the 
holy  infant  escaped  this  carnage.  The  wise  men,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  their  visit,  had  "  opened  their  treasures,"  and  had 
"  presented  unto  Him  gifts,  £;'o/d,  .  and  frankincense,  and 
myrrh,"*  so  that  the  poor  travellers  had  providentially  ob- 
tained means  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  their  journey.  The 
slaughter  of  the  babes  of  Bethlehem  was  one  of  the  last  acts 
of  the  bloody  reign  of  Herod  ;  and  on  his  demise,  the  exiles 
were  divinely  instructed  to  return,  and  the  child  was  presented 
in  the  temple.  This  ceremony  evoked  new  testimonies  to 
His  high  mission.  On  His  appearance  in  His  Father's  house, 
the  aged  Simeon,  moved  by  the  Spirit  from  on  high,  embraced 
Him  as  the  promised  Shiloh  ;  and  Anna,  the  prophetess,  like- 
wise gave  thanks  to  God,  and  "  spake  of  Him  to  all  them  that 
looked  for  redemption  in  Jerusalem."  '  Thus,  whilst  the  Old 
Testament  predictions  pointed  to  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  living 

'  Matt.  ii.  16.  The  estimates  formed  at  a  subsequent  period  of  the  num- 
ber of  infants  in  the  village  of  Bethlehem  and  its  precincts  betray  a  strange 
ignorance  of  statistics.  "  The  Greek  Church  canonized  the  14,000  inno- 
cents," observes  the  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  "  and  another  notion,  founded  on 
a  misrepresentation  of  Revelation  (xiv,  3),  swelled  the  number  to  144,000. 
The  former,  at  least,  was  the  common  belief  of  our  church,  though  even  in 
our  liturgy  the  latter  has  in  some  degree  been  sanctioned  by  retaining  the 
chapter  of  Revelation  as  the  epistle  for  the  day.  Even  later,  Jeremy  Tay- 
lor, in  his  '  Life  of  Christ,'  admits  the  14,000  writhout  scruple,  or  rather 
without  thought." — Milman's  History  of  Christianity^  i.  p.  113,  note. 

"^  Matt.  ii.  II. 

'  Luke  ii.  38.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  in  the  year  751  of  the  city  of 
Rome,  the  year  of  the  Birth  of  Christ  according  to  the  chronology  adopted 
in  this  volume,  the  passover  was  not  celebrated  as  usual  in  Judea.  The 
disturbances  which  occurred  on  the  death  of  Herod  had  become  so  serious 
on  the  arrival  of  the  pascal  day,  that  Archelaus  was  obliged  to  disperse  the 
people  by  force  of  arms  in  the  very  midst  of  the  sacrifices.  So  soon  did 
Christ  begin  to  cause  the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation  to  cease.  See  Gres- 
well's  "  Dissertations,"  i.  pp.  393,  394,  note. 


14  THE   YOUTH   OF   JESUS. 

prophets  appeared  to  interpret  these  sacred  oracles,  and  to 
bear  witness  to  the  claims  of  the  new-born  Saviour. 

Though  the  Son  of  Mary  was  beyond  all  comparison  the 
most  extraordinary  personage  that  ever  appeared  on  earth,  it 
is  remarkable  that  the  sacred  writers  enter  into  scarcely  any 
details  respecting  the  history  of  His  infancy,  His  youth,  or 
His  early  manhood.  They  tell  us  that  "  the  child  grew  and 
waxed  strong  in  spirit," '  and  that  He  "  increased  in  wisdom 
and  stature,  and  in  favor  with  God  and  man  '  V  but  they  do 
not  minutely  trace  the  progress  of  His  mental  development, 
neither  do  they  gratify  any  feeling  of  mere  curiosity  by  giv- 
ing us  His  infantile  biography.  In  what  is  omitted  by  the 
penmen  of  the  New  Testament,  as  well  as  in  what  is  written, 
we  must  acknowledge  the  guidance  of  inspiration  ;  and  though 
we  would  have  perused  with  avidity  a  description  of  the  pur- 
suits of  Jesus  when  a  child,  such  a  record  has  not  been  deemed 
necessary  for  the  illustration  of  the  work  of  redemption.  He 
spent  about  thirty  years  on  earth  almost  unnoticed  and  un- 
known ;  and  He  was  meanwhile  trained  to  the  occupation  of 
a  carpenter.*  The  obscurity  of  His  early  career  was  one  part 
of  His  humiliation.  But  the  circumstances  in  which  He  was 
placed  enabled  Him  to  exhibit  more  clearly  the  divinity  of 
His  origin.  He  did  not  receive  a  liberal  education,  so  that 
when  He  came  forward  as  a  public  teacher  "  the  Jews  mar- 
velled, saying.  How  knoweth  this  man  letters,  liaving  never 
learned?'' "•  When  He  was  only  twelve  years  old,  He  was 
"  found  in  the  temple  sitting  in  the  midst  of  the  doctors,  both 
hearing  them,  and  asking  them  questions  ;  and  all  that  heard 
him  were  astonished  at  his  understanding  and  answers."  * 
As  He  grew  up,  He  was  distinguished  by  His  diligent  attend- 
ance in  the  house  of  God  ;  and  He  was  in  the  habit  of  officiat- 
ing at  public  worship  by  assisting  in  the  reading  of  the  law 
and  the  prophets  ;  for,  we  are  told  that,  shortly  after  the  com- 
mencement of  His  ministry,  "  He  came  to  Nazarath,  where  he 
had  been  brought  up,  and,  as  his  custom  was,  he  went  into 
the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath-day,  and  stood  up  for  to  read."  * 

'  Luke  ii.  40.  '^  Luke  ii.  52.  '  Mark  vi.  3. 

*  John  vii.  15.  ''  Luke  ii.  46,  47.  "  Luke  iv.  16. 


JOHN   THE   BAPTIST.  1 5 

When  He  was  thirty  years  of  age,  and  immediately  before 
His  public  appearance  as  a  prophet,  our  Lord  was  baptized  of 
John  in  Jordan.'  The  Baptist  did  not  preach  longer  than 
six  months;''  but  during  his  imprisonment  of  considerably 
upwards  of  a  year,  he  still  contributed  to  prepare  the  way  of 
Christ  ;  for,  in  the  fortress  of  Machaerus  in  which  he  was  in- 
carcerated,* he  was  not  kept  in  utter  ignorance  of  passing 
occurrences  ;  and  when  permitted  to  hold  intercourse  with  his 
friends,  he  doubtless  directed  their  attention  to  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Great  Prophet.  The  claims  of  John,  as  a  teacher 
sent  from  God,  were  extensively  acknowledged,  and,  therefore, 
his  recognition  of  our  Lord  as  the  promised  Messiah,  must 
have  impressed  the  minds  of  the  Israelites.  The  miracles  of 
our  Saviour  corroborated  the  testimony  of  His  forerunner, 
and  created  a  deep  sensation.  He  healed  "  all  manner  of  sick- 
ness, and  all  manner  of  disease."*  It  was,  consequently,  not 
strange  that  "  his  fame  went  throughout  all  Syria,"  and  that 
"  there  followed  him  great  multitudes  of  people  from  Galilee, 
and  from  Decapolis,  and  from  Jerusalem,  and  from  Judea,  and 
from  beyond  Jordan."  ^ 

Even  when  the  Most  High  reveals  Himself  there  is  some- 
thing mysterious  in  the  manifestation,  so  that  as  we  ac- 
knowledge the  tokens  of  His  presence,  we  may  well  exclaim, 
"  Verily  thou  art  a  God  that  hidest  thyself,  O  God  of  Israel, 
the  Saviour." "  When  He  displayed  His  glory  in  the  temple 
of  old.  He  filled  it  with  thick  darkness ;'  when  He  delivered 
the  sure  word  of  prophecy,  He  employed  strange  and  misty 

'  Luke  iii.  21-23.  "  It  became  Him,  being  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh, 
to  go  through  these  appointed  rites  and  purifications  which  belonged  to 
that  flesh.  There  is  no  more  strangeness  in  His  having  been  baptized  by 
John,  than  in  His  keeping  the  Passover.  The  one  rite,  as  the  other,  be- 
longed to  sinners,  and  among  the  transgressors  He  was  numbered." — Al- 
FORD,  Greek  Testatnent,  note  on  Matt.  iii.  13-17. 

^  See  Greswell's  "  Dissertations  upon  an  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,"  vol.  i. 
pp.  362,  363.  John  probably  commenced  his  ministry  about  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles,  A.D.  27. 

'  See  Josephus,  "  Antiq."  xviii.  5,  §  2.  "  Matt.  iv.  23. 

'  Matt.  iv.  24,  25.  "  Isaiah  xlv.  15.  '  I  Kings  viii.  10-12. 


l6  CHRIST'S   FOOTSTErS   NOT   KNOWN. 

language  ;  when  He  announced  the  Gospel  itself,  He  uttered 
some  things  hard  to  be  understood.  It  might  have  been  said 
of  the  Son  of  God,  when  He  appeared  on  earth,  that  His 
"footsteps  were  not  known."  In  early  life  He  does  not  seem 
to  have  arrested  the  attention  of  His  own  townsmen ;  and 
when  He  came  forward  to  assert  His  claims  as  the  Messiah, 
He  did  not  overawe  or  dazzle  His  countrymen  by  any  sus- 
tained demonstration  of  tremendous  power  or  of  overwhelm- 
ing splendor.  To-day  the  multitude  beheld  His  miracles 
with  wonder,  but  to-morrow  they  could  not  tell  where  to 
meet  with  Him  ; '  ever  and  anon  He  appeared  and  disap- 
peared ;  and  occasionally  His  own  disciples  found  it  difificult 
to  discover  the  place  of  His  retirement.  When  He  arrived  in 
a  district,  thousands  often  hastily  gathered  round  Him ; " 
but  He  never  encouraged  the  attendance  of  vast  assemblages 
by  giving  general  notice  that,  in  a  specified  place  and  on  an  ap- 
pointed day.  He  would  deliver  a  public  address,  or  perform  a 
new  and  unprecedented  miracle.  We  here  see  the  wisdom 
of  Him  who  "  doeth  all  things  well."  Whilst  the  secrecy  Avith 
which  He  conducted  His  movements  baffled  any  premature 
attempts  on  the  part  of  His  enemies  to  effect  His  capture  or 
condemnation,  it  also  checked  that  intense  popular  excite- 
ment which  a  ministry  so  extraordinary  awakened. 

Four  inspired  writers  have  given  separate  accounts  of  the 
life  of  Christ — all  repeat  many  of  His  wonderful  sayings — all 
dwell  with  marked  minuteness  on  the  circumstances  of  His 
death — and  all  attest  the  fact  of  His  resurrection.  Each 
mentions  some  things  which  the  others  have  omitted ;  and 
each  apparently  observes  the  order  of  time  in  the  details  of 
his  narrative.  But  when  we  combine  and  arrange  their  vari- 
ous statements,  so  as  to  form  the  whole  into  one  regular  and 
comprehensive  testimony,  we  discover  that  there  are  not  a 
few  periods  of  His  life  still  left  destitute  of  incidents;  and 
that  there  is  no  reference  whatever  to  topics  which  we  should 
expect    to    find  particularly  noticed  in  the  biography  of  so 

'  John  V.  13,  vi.  15,  viii.  59,  xii.  36  ;  Mark  1.  45,  vii.  24. 
'  Mark  ii.  1,2;  Matt.  xiv.  13,  14,  21,  xv.  32,  38,  39. 


HIS  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE.  1/ 

great  a  personage.  After  His  appearance  as  a  public  teacher, 
He  not  only  made  sudden  transitions  from  place  to  place,  but 
otherwise  often  courted  the  shade  ;  and,  instead  of  unfolding 
the  circumstances  of  His  private  history,  the  evangelists  dwell 
chiefly  on  His  Discourses  and  His  Miracles.  During  His 
ministry,  Capernaum  was  His  headquarters ; '  but  we  can  not 
tell  with  whom  He  lodged;  nor  whether  the  twelve  sojourned 
under  the  same  roof  with  Him  ;  nor  how  much  time  He  spent 
in  it  at  any  particular  period.  We  can  not  point  out  the  pre- 
cise route  which  He  pursued  on  any  occasion  when  itinerating 
throughout  Galilee  or  Judea;  neither  are  we  sure  that  He  al- 
ways journeyed  on  foot,  or  that  He  adhered  to  a  uniform  mode 
of  travelling.  It  is  most  singular  that  the  inspired  writers 
never  throw  out  a  hint  on  which  an  artist  could  seize  as  the 
groundwork  of  a  painting  of  Jesus.  As  if  to  teach  us  more 
emphatically  that  we  are  to  beware  of  a  sensuous  superstition, 
and  that  we  should  direct  our  thoughts  to  the  spiritual  feat- 
ures of  His  character,  the  New  Testament  never  mentions 
either  the  color  of  His  hair,  or  the  height  of  His  stature,  or 
the  cast  of  His  countenance.  How  wonderful  that  even  "  the 
beloved  disciple,"  who  was  permitted  to  lean  on  the  bosom  of 
the  Son  of  man,  and  who  had  seen  Him  in  the  most  trying 
circumstances  of  His  earthly  history,  never  speaks  of  the  tones 
of  His  voice,  or  of  the  expression  of  His  eye,  or  of  any  striking 
peculiarity  pertaining  to  His  personal  appearance !  The  si- 
lence of  all  the  evangelists  respecting  matters  of  which  at 
least  some  of  them  must  have  retained  a  very  vivid  remem- 
brance, and  of  which  ordinary  biographers  would  not  have 
failed  to  preserve  a  record,  supplies  an  indirect  and  yet  a  most 
powerful  proof  of  the  Divine  origin  of  the  Gospels. 

'  Matt.  iv.  13.  Hence  it  is  said  to  have  been  "exalted  unto  heaven  "  in 
the  way  of  privilege.  Matt.  xi.  23;  Luke  x.  15.  It  was  the  residence  as 
well  of  Peter  and  Andrew  (Matt.  xvii.  24),  as  of  James,  John  (Mark  i.  21, 
29),  and  Matthew  (Mark  ii.  i,  14,  15),  and  there  also  dwelt  the  nobleman 
whose  son  was  healed  by  our  Lord  (John  iv.  46).  It  was  on  the  borders 
of  the  sea  of  Galilee,  so  that  by  crossing-  the  water  He  could  at  once  reach 
the  territory  of  another  potentate,  and  withdraw  Himself  from  the  multi- 
tudes drawn  together  by  the  fame  of  His  miracles.  See  Milman's  "  His- 
tory of  Christianity,"  i.  188. 
2 


l8  THE   TEACHING   OF   CHRIST. 

But  whilst  the  sacred  writers  enter  so  sparingly  into  per- 
sonal details,  they  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  perfect  integrity 
which  marked  every  part  of  our  Lord's  proceedings.  He  was 
born  in  a  degenerate  age,  and  brought  up  in  a  city  of  Galilee 
so  infamous  that  no  good  thing  was  expected  to  proceed  from 
it  ;  *  and  yet,  like  a  ray  of  purest  light  shining  into  some  den 
of  uncleanness,  He  contracted  no  defilement  from  the  scenes 
of  pollution  which  He  was  obliged  to  witness.  Even  in  boy- 
hood, He  uniformly  acted  with  supreme  discretion  ;  and 
though  His  enemies  from  time  to  time  gave  vent  to  their 
malignity  in  various  accusations,  they  never  sought  to  cast  so 
much  as  a  solitary  stain  upon  His  youthful  reputation.  The 
most  malicious  of  the  Jews  failed  to  fasten  on  Him  in  after- 
life any  charge  of  immorality.  Among  those  constantly  ad- 
mitted to  His  familiar  intercourse,  a  traitor  was  found  ;  and 
had  Judas  been  able  to  detect  anything  in  His  private  deport- 
ment inconsistent  with  His  public  profession,  he  would  doubt- 
less have  proclaimed  it  as  an  apology  for  his  perfidy ;  but  the 
keen  eye  of  that  close  observer  could  not  discover  a  single 
blemish  in  the  character  of  his  Master  ;  and  when,  prompted 
by  covetousness,  he  betrayed  Him  to  the  chief  priests,  the 
thought  of  having  been  accessory  to  the  death  of  one  so  kind 
and  so  holy,  continued  to  torment  him,  until  it  drove  him  to 
despair  and  to  self-destruction. 

The  doctrine  inculcated  by  our  Lord  commended  itself  by 
the  light  of  its  own  evidence.  It  was  nothing  more  than  a 
lucid  and  comprehensive  exposition  of  the  theology  of  the 
Old  Testament ;  and  yet  it  presented  such  a  new  view  of  the 
faith  of  patriarchs  and  prophets,  that  it  had  all  the  freshness 
and  interest  of  an  original  revelation.  It  discovered  a  most 
intimate  acquaintance  with  the  mental  constitution  of  man — 
it  appealed  with  mighty  power  to  conscience — and  it  was  felt 
to  be  exactly  adapted  to  the  moral  state  and  spiritual  wants 
of  the  human  family.  The  disciples  of  Jesus  did  not  require 
to  be  told  that  He  had  "the  key  of  knowledge,"  for  they 
were  delighted  and    edified    as  "  He  opened  "    to  them  the 

*  John  i.  46. 


THE   TEACHING   OF  CHRIST.  I9 

Scriptures.'  He  taught  the  multitude  "  as  one  having  au- 
thority "; '  and  they  were  "  astonished  at  His  doctrine." 
The  discourses  of  the  scribes,  their  most  learned  instructors, 
were  meagre  and  vapid — they  were  not  calculated  to  enlarge 
the  mind  or  to  move  the  affections — they  consisted  frequently 
of  doubtful  disputations  relating  to  the  ceremonials  of  their 
worship — and  the  very  air  with  which  they  were  delivered 
betrayed  the  insignificance  of  the  topics  of  discussion.  But 
Jesus  spake  with  a  dignity  which  commanded  respect,  and 
with  the  seriousness  of  a  great  Teacher  delivering  to  perish- 
ing sinners  the  lessons  of  eternal  truth. 

There  was  something  singularly  beautiful  and  attractive,  as 
well  as  majestic  and  impressive,  in  the  teaching  of  our  Lord. 
The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  a  most  pleasing  specimen  of  His 
method  of  conveying  instruction.  Whilst  He  gives  utterance 
to  sentiments  of  exalted  wisdom.  He  employs  language  so 
simple,  and  imagery  so  chaste  and  natural,  that  even  a  child 
is  interested  and  delighted.  He  did  not  speak  in  parables  for 
a  considerable  time  after  He  entered  on  His  ministry.'  By 
these  symbolical  discourses  He  blinded  the  eyes  of  His  ene- 
mies, and  furnished  materials  for  profitable  meditation  to  His 
genuine  disciples.  The  parables,  like  the  light  of  prophecy, 
are,  to  this  very  day,  a  beacon  to  the  Church,  and  a  stumbling- 
block  to  unbelievers. 

The  claim  of  Jesus  to  be  the  Christ  was  decisively  estab- 
lished by  the  Divine  power  which  He  manifested.  It  had 
been  foretold  that  certain  extraordinary  recoveries  from  dis- 
ease and  infirmity  should  be  witnessed  in  the  days  of  the 
Messiah  ;  and  these  predictions  were  literally  fulfilled.  The 
eyes  of  the  blind  were  opened,  and  the  ears  of  the  deaf  un- 
stopped ;  the  lame  man  leaped  as  an  hart,  and  the  tongue  of 
the  dumb  sang."     Not  a  few  of  the  cures  of  our  Saviour  were 

'  Luke  xxiv.  32.  '  Matt.  vii.  29. 

'  According  to  Mr.  Greswell,  our  Lord  adopted  this  method  of  teaching 
about  eighteen  months  after  the  commencement  of  His  ministry,  and  the 
Parable  of  the  Sower  was  the  first  delivered.  "  Exposition  of  the  Parable,' 
vol.  i.,  p.  2. 

*  Isa.  XXXV.  5,  6. 


20  THE   MIRACLES   OF   CHRIST. 

wrought  on  individuals  to  whom  He  was  personally  unknown  ;* 
and  many  of  His  works  of  wonder  were  performed  in  the  pres- 
ence of  friends  and  foes.''  Whilst  His  miracles  exceeded  in 
number  all  those  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament,  they  were 
still  more  remarkable  for  their  variety  and  excellence.  By 
His  touch,  or  His  word.  He  healed  the  most  inveterate  mala- 
dies ;  He  fed  the  multitude  by  thousands  out  of  a  store  of  pro- 
visions which  a  little  boy  could  carry  ; '  He  walked  upon  the 
waves  of  the  sea,  when  it  was  agitated  by  a  tempest  ;  *  He 
made  the  storm  a  calm,  so  that  when  the  wind  ceased  to  blow, 
the  surface  of  the  deep  reposed,  at  the  same  moment,  in  glassy 
smoothness  ;  ^  He  cast  out  devils ;  and  He  restored  life  to  the 
dead.  Well  might  the  Pharisees  be  perplexed  by  the  inquiry, 
"  How  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner  do  sucJi  miracles  ?  "  °  It 
is  quite  possible  that  false  prophets,  by  the  help  of  Satan, 
may  accomplish  feats  fitted  to  excite  astonishment ;  and  yet, 
in  such  cases,  the  agents  of  the  Wicked  One  will  exhibit  some 
symptoms  of  his  spirit  and  character.  But  nothing  diabolical, 
or  of  an  evil  tendency,  appeared  in  the  miracles  of  our  Lord. 
With  the  two  exceptions  of  the  cursing  of  the  barren  fig-tree,^ 
and  the  permitting  the  devils  to  enter  into  the  swine,"  all  His 
displays  of  power  were  indicative  of  His  goodness  and  His 
mercy.  No  other  than  a  true  prophet  could  have  so  often 
controlled  the  course  of  nature,  in  the  production  of  results  of 
such  utility,  benignity,  and  grandeur. 

The  miracles  of  Christ  illustrated,  as  well  as  confirmed.  His 
doctrines.  When,  for  instance.  He  converted  the  water  into 
wine  at  the  marriage  in  Cana  of  Galilee,"  He  taught,  not  only 
that  He  approved  of  wedlock,  but  also  that,  within  proper 
limits,  we  should  exercise  a  generous  hospitality.  In  some 
cases   He  required   faith    in    those    whom    He  vouchsafed  to 

'  See  John  v.  13,  ix,  i,  6,  25,  36,  '  Mark  ii.  6,  7,  10,  1 1,  iii.  5,  22. 

'  John  vi.  9.  ■*  Matt.  xiv.  24,  25. 

'  Mark  iv.  39  ;  Matt.  viii.  26,  27,  "  John  ix.  16. 

'  Matt.  xxi.  19.  Neander  has  shown  that  this  was  a  typical  action  point- 
ing to  the  rejection  of  the  Jews.  See  his  "  Life  of  Jesus  Christ  "  by  M'Clin- 
tock  and  Blumcnthal,  p.  357. 

*  Mark  v.  13.  '  Jolm  ii.  9. 


CHRIST   A   WONDER  TO    MANY.  21 

cure/  thus  distinctly  suggesting  the  way  of  a  sinner's  salva- 
tion. Many  of  His  miracles  were  obviously  of  a  typical  char- 
acter. When  He  acted  as  the  physician  of  the  body,  He  indi- 
rectly gave  evidence  of  His  efificiency  as  the  physician  of  the 
soul ;  when  He  restored  sight  to  the  blind,  He  indicated  that 
He  can  turn  men  from  darkness  to  light ;  when  He  raised  the 
dead,  He  virtually  demonstrated  His  ability  to  quicken  the 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  Those  who  witnessed  these  exhi- 
bitions of  His  power  were  prepared  to  listen  with  the  deepest 
interest  to  His  words  when  He  declared,  "  I  am  the  light  of 
the  world ;  he  that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness, 
but  shall  have  tJie  light  of  life. ''  ^ 

Though  our  Lord's  conduct,  as  a  public  teacher,  fully  sus- 
tained His  claims  as  the  Messiah,  it  was  a  complete  enigma 
to  all  classes  of  politicians.  He  did  not  seek  to  obtain  power 
by  courting  the  favor  of  the  great,  neither  did  He  attempt  to 
gain  popularity  by  flattering  the  prejudices  of  the  multitude. 
He  wounded  the  national  pride  by  hinting  at  the  destruction 
of  the  temple ;  He  gave  much  offence  by  holding  intercourse 
with  the  odious  publicans ;  and  with  many.  He  forfeited  all 
credit,  as  a  patriot,  by  refusing  to  affirm  the  unlawfulness  of 
paying  tribute  to  the  Roman  emperor.  The  greatest  human 
characters  have  been  occasionally  swayed  by  personal  predilec- 
tions or  antipathies,  but,  in  the  life  of  Christ,  we  can  discover 
no  memorial  of  infirmity.  Like  a  sage  among  children.  He 
did  not  permit  Himself  to  be  influenced  by  the  petty  parti- 
alities, whims,  or  superstitions  of  His  countrymen.  He  incul- 
cated a  theological  system  for  which  He  could  not  expect  the 
support  of  any  of  the  existing  classes  of  religionists.  He  dif- 
fered from  the  Essenes,  as  He  did  not  adopt  their  ascetic 
habits  ;  He  displeased  the  Sadducees,  by  asserting  the  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection ;  He  provoked  the  Pharisees,  by 
declaring  that  they  worshipped  God  in  vain,  teaching  for  doc- 
trines the  commandments  of  men ;  and  He  incurred  the  hos- 
tility of  the  whole  tribe  of  Jewish  zealots,  by  maintaining  His 
right  to  supersede  the  arrangements  of  the  Mosaic  economy. 

*  Matt.  ix.  28,  29;  Mark  vi.  5,  ix.  23,  24.  '  John  viii.  12. 


22  THE   LENGTH   OF   CHRIST  S   MINISTRY. 

By  pursuing  this  independent  course  He  vindicated  His  title 
to  the  character  of  a  Divine  lawgiver,  but  at  the  same  time 
He  forfeited  a  vast  amount  of  sympathy  and  aid  on  which  He 
might  otherwise  have  calculated. 

There  has  been  considerable  diversity  of  opinion  regarding 
the  length  of  our  Saviour's  ministry.'  We  could  approximate 
very  closely  to  a  correct  estimate  could  we  tell  the  number  of 
passovers  from  its  commencement  to  its  close,  but  this  point  can 
not  be  determined  with  absolute  certainty.  Four,  apparently, 
are  mentioned^  by  the  evangelist  John ;  and  if,  as  is  probable, 
they  amounted  to  no  more,  our  Lord's  career,  as  a  public  teacher, 
was  of  about  three  years'  duration."  The  greater  part  of  this 
period  was  spent  in  Galilee ;  and  the  sacred  writers  intimate  that 
He  made  several  circuits,  as  a  missionary,  among  the  cities  and 
villages  of  that  populous  district."  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke 
dwell  chiefly  upon  this  portion  of  His  history.  Toward  the 
termination  of  His  course,  Judea  was  the  principal  scene  of 
His  ministrations.  Jerusalem  was  the  centre  of  Jewish  power 
and  prejudice,  and  He  had  hitherto  chiefly  labored  in  remote 
districts  of  the  land,  where  He  was  comparatively  free  from 
the  annoyance  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees;  but,  as  His  end 
approached,  He  acted  with  greater  publicity,  and  often  taught 
openly  in  the  very  courts  of  the  temple.  John  supplements 
the  narratives  of  the  other  evangelists  by  recording  our  Lord's 
proceedings  in  Judca. 

A  few  members  of   the   Sanhedrim,  such   as   Nicodemus,' 

'  Several  of  the  early  fathers  imagined  that  it  continued  only  a  year. 
Some  of  them,  such  as  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  drew  this  conclusion  from 
Isaiah  Ixi.  i,  "  To  preach  the  acceptable  year  oi  the  Lord."  See  Kaye's 
"  Clement  of  Alexandria,"  p.  347. 

"  John  ii.  13,  V.  1,  vi.  4,  xii.  i.  Eusebius  argues  from  the  number  of  high- 
priests  that  our  Lord's  ministry  did  not  embrace  four  entire  years.  "  Ecc. 
Hist."  i.  c.  X. 

'  He  lived,  therefore,  about  thirty-three  years.  According  to  IMalle  Brua 
("  Universal  Geography,"  book  xxii.),  "  the  mean  duration  of  human  life  ia 
between  thirty  and  forty  years,"  and,  in  the  same  chapter,  he  computes  it 
at  thirty-three  years.  It  would  thus  appear  that,  at  the  time  of  His  death, 
our  Lord  was,  in  point  of  age,  a  fitting  representative  of  the  s])ecies. 

*  Luke  iv.  44,  viii.  i  ;  IMalt.  ix.  35.  *  John  iii.  i,  2. 


THE   CRUCIFIXION.  23 

believed  Jesus  to  be  "  a  teacher  come  from  God,"  but  by  far 
the  majority  regarded  Him  with  extreme  aversion.  They 
could  not  imagine  that  the  son  of  a  carpenter  was  to  be  the 
Saviour  of  their  country,  for  they  expected  the  Messiah  to 
appear  surrounded  with  all  the  splendor  of  secular  magnifi- 
cence. They  were  hypocritical  and  selfish ;  they  had  been 
repeatedly  rebuked  by  Christ  for  their  impiety ;  and,  as  they 
marked  His  increasing  favor  with  the  multitude,  their  envy 
and  indignation  beame  ungovernable.  They  accordingly  seized 
Him  at  the  time  of  the  Passover,  and,  on  the  charge  that  He 
said  He  was  the  Son  of  God,  He  was  condemned  as  a  blas- 
phemer.' He  suffered  crucifixion — an  ignominious  form  of 
capital  punishment  from  which  the  laws  of  the  empire  ex- 
empted every  Roman  citizen — and,  to  add  to  His  disgrace, 
He  was  put  to  death  between  two  thieves."  But  even  Pon- 
tius Pilate,  then  Procurator  of  Judea,  and  who,  in  that  capacity, 
endorsed  the  sentence,  was  constrained  to  acknowledge  that 
He  was  a  "just  person  "  in  whom  He  could  find  "  no  fault."' 
Pilate  was  a  truckling  time-server,  and  he  acquiesced  in  the 
decision,  simply  because  he  was  afraid  to  exasperate  the  Jews 
by  rescuing  from  their  grasp  an  innocent  man  whom  they  per- 
secuted with  unrelenting  hatred." 

The  death  of  Christ,  of  which  all  the  evangelists  treat  so 
particularly,  is  the  most  awful  and  the  most  momentous  event 
in  the  history  of  the  world.  He,  no  doubt,  fell  a  victim  to 
the  malice  of  the  rulers  of  the  Jews ;  but  He  was  delivered 
into  their  hands  "  by  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowl- 
edge of  God";'  and,  if  we  discard  the  idea  that  He  was  of- 
fered up  as  a  vicarious  sacrifice,  it  is  impossible  to  give  any- 
thing like  a  satisfactory  account  of  what  occurred  in  Geth- 
semane  and  at  Calvary.  The  amount  of  physical  suffering  He 
sustained  from  man  did  not  exceed  that  endured  by  either  of 
the  malefactors  with  whom  He  was  associated  ;  and  such  was 
His  magnanimity  and  fortitude,  that,  had  He  been  an  ordinary 
martyr,  the  prospect  of  crucifixion  would  not  have  been  suffi- 

>  Matt.  xxvi.  63-66.  *  Matt,  xxvii.  38. 

»  Matt,  xxvii,  24;  John  xviii.  38.        "  Mark  xv.  10,  15.        ^  Acts  ii.  2^ 


24  THE   CRUCIFIXION. 

cient  to  make  Him  "  exceeding  sorrowful  "  and  "  sore  amazed."  ' 
His  holy  soul  was  wrung  with  no  common  agony  when 
"  His  sweat  was,  as  it  were,  great  drops  of  blood  falling  down 
to  the  ground,"^  and  when  He  cried  out,  "  My  God,  my  God, 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?'"  In  that  hour  of  "  the  power 
of  darkness "  He  was  "  smitten  of  God  and  afflicted,"  and 
there  was  never  sorrow  like  unto  His  sorrow,  for  upon  Him 
were  laid  "the  iniquities  of  us  all." 

The  incidents  which  accompanied  the  death  of  Jesus  were 
even  more  impressive  than  those  which  signalized  His  birth. 
When  He  was  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  there  appeared 
unto  Him  an  angel  from  heaven,  strengthening  Him.*  Dur- 
ing the  three  concluding  hours  of  His  intense  anguish  on  the 
cross,  there  was  darkness  over  all  the  land,"  as  if  nature 
mourned  along  with  the  illustrious  sufferer.  When  He 
bowed  His  head  on  Calvary  and  gave  up  the  ghost,  the  event 
was  marked  by  notifications  such  as  never  announced  the  de- 
mise of  any  of  this  world's  great  potentates,  for  "  the  veil  of 
the  temple  was  rent  in  twain,"  and  the  rocks  were  cleft  asun- 
der, and  the  graves  were  opened,  and  the  earth  trembled." 
"  The  centurion  and  they  that  were  with  him  "  in  attendance 
at  the  execution  were  Gentiles ;  and,  though  they  had  heard 
that  Jesus  claimed  to  be  the  Messiah  of  the  Jews,  they  very 
imperfectly  understood  what  this  implied ;  but  they  were 
forthwith  overwhelmed  with  the  conviction  that  He,  whose 
death  they  had  just  witnessed,  had  given  a  true  account  of 
His  mission  and  His  dignity;  for,  when  they  "saw  the  earth- 
quake and  those  things  that  were  done,  they  feared  greatly, 
saying.  Truly,  this  was  the  Son  of  God^  '' 

The  body  of  our  Lord  was  committed  to  the  grave  on  the 
evening  of  Friday,  and,  early  on  the  morning  of  the  following 
Sunday,  He  issued  from  the  tomb.  An  ordinary  individual 
has  no  control  over  the  duration  of  his  existence,  but  Jesus 
demonstrated  that  He  had  power  to  lay  down  His  life,  and 

'  Matt.  xxvi.  38  ;  Mark  xiv.  33.         "  Luke  xxii.  44.         '  Matt,  xxvii.  46. 

*  Luke  xxii.  43.  *  Luke  xxiii.  44  ;  Mark  xv.  33. 

•  Matt,  xxvii.  51,  52.  '  Matt,  xxvii.  54. 


THE   RESURRECTION.  2$ 

that  He  had  power  to  take  it  again.'  Had  He  been  a  de- 
ceiver, His  delusions  would  have  terminated  with  His  death 
so  that  His  resurrection  was  His  crowning  miracle,  or  rather, 
the  affixing  of  the  broad  seal  of  Heaven  to  the  truth  of  His 
mission  as  the  Messiah.  It  w^as,  besides,  the  fulfilment  of  an 
ancient  prophecy;"  a  proof  of  His  foreknowledge;'  and  a 
pledge  of  the  resurrection  of  His  disciples.*  Hence,  in  the 
New  Testament,^  it  is  so  often  mentioned  with  marked 
emphasis. 

There  is  no  fact  connected  with  the  life  of  Christ  better  at- 
tested than  His  resurrection.  He  was  put  to  death  by  His 
enemies,  and  His  body  was  not  removed  from  the  cross  until 
they  were  fully  satisfied  that  the  vital  spark  had  fled.'  His 
tomb  was  scooped  out  of  a  solid  rock,^  the  stone  which 
blocked  up  the  entrance  was  sealed  with  all  care,  and  a  mili- 
tary guard  kept  constant  watch  to  prevent  its  violation ;  * 
but  in  due  time  an  earthquake  shook  the  cemetery — "  The 
angel  of  the  Lord  descended  from  heaven,  and  came  and 
rolled  back  the  stone  from  the  door,  and  sat  upon  it ;  ,  .  .  . 
and  for  fear  of  him  the  keepers  did  shake,  and  became  as  dead 
men."  ^  Our  Lord  meanwhile  came  forth  from  the  grave, 
and  the  sentinels,  in  consternation,  hastened  to  the  chief  priests 
and  communicated  the  astounding  intelligence.'"  But  these 
infatuated  men,  instead  of  yielding  to  the  force  of  this  over- 
whelming evidence,  endeavored  to  conceal  their  infamy  by  the 
base  arts  of  bribery  and  falsehood.  "  They  gave  large  money 
unto  the  soldiers,  saying,  Say  ye.  His  disciples  came  by  night 

and  stole  him  away  while  we  slept So  they  took  the 

money  and  did  as  they  were  taught."  " 

Jesus,  as  the  first-born  of  Mary,  was  presented  in  the  temple 
forty  days  after  His  birth ;  and,  as  *'  the  first-begotten  of  the 

'  John  X.  i8.  2  Ps,  xvi.  lo ;  Acts  ii.  31. 

3  John  ii.  19;  Mark  viii.  31  ;  Luke  xviii.  33. 

*  John  xiv.  19  ;  i  Thess.  iv.  14. 

'  Rom.  i.  4 ;  I  Cor.  xv.  14,  17 ;  i  Pet.  i.  3  ;  Rev.  i.  18. 

'  John  xix.  33,  34.  ■'  Matt,  xxvii.  60.  ®  Matt,  xxvii.  66. 

»  Matt,  xxviii.  2,  4.  '"  Matt,  xxviii.  11,  "  Matt,  xxviii.  I2,  13,  15. 


26  JESUS  AFTER  HIS  RESURRECTION. 

dead,"  '  He  presented  Himself  before  His  Father  in  the  temple 
above  forty  days  after  He  had  opened  the  womb  of  the  grave. 
During  the  interval  He  appeared  only  to  His  own  followers." 
Those  who  had  so  long  and  so  wilfully  rejected  the  testimony  of 
His  teaching  and  His  miracles,  had  certainly  no  reason  to  expect 
any  additional  proofs  of  His  Divine  mission.  But  the  Lord 
manifests  Himself  to  His  Church,  "  and  not  unto  the  world," ' 
and  to  such  as  fear  His  name  He  is  continually  supplying  new 
'and  interesting  illustrations  of  His  presence,  His  power,  His 
wisdom,  and  His  mercy.  Whilst  He  is  a  pillar  of  darkness  to 
His  foes.  He  is  a  pillar  of  light  to  His  people.  Though  Jesus 
was  now  invisible  to  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  He  admitted 
His  disciples  to  high  and  holy  fellowship.  Their  hearts 
burned  within  them  as  He  spake  to  them  "  of  the  things  per- 
taining to  the  kingdom  of  God,"  '  and  as  "  he  expounded  unto 
them  in  all  the  Scriptures  the  things  concerning  himself."  ' 
Now,  He  doubtless  pointed  out  to  them  how  He  was  symbol- 
ized in  the  types,  exhibited  in  the  promises,  and  described  in 
the  prophecies.  He  explained  to  them  more  fully  the  ar- 
rangements of  His  Church,  and  He  commanded  His  apostles 
to  go  and  "  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  *  Hav- 
ing assured  the  twelve  of  His  presence  with  His  true  servants 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,  and  having  led  them  out  as 
far  as  Bethany,  a  village  a  few  furlongs  from  Jerusalem,  **  he 
lifted  up  his  hands  and  blessed  them.  And  it  came  to  pass 
while  he  blessed  them,  he  was  parted  from  them  and  carried 
up  into  heaven." ' 

Thus  closed  the  earthly  career  of  Him  who  is  both  the 
Son  of  man  and  the  Son  of  God.  Though  He  was  sorely 
tried  by  the  privations  of  poverty,  though  He  was  exposed  to 
the  most  brutal  and  degrading  insults,  and  though  at  last  He 
was  forsaken  by  His  friends  and  consigned  to  a  death  of 
lingering  agony.  He  never  performed  a  single  act  or  uttered  a 

'  Rev.  i.  5.  '  Acts  x.  40,  41. 

'  John  xiv.  22.  *  Acts  i.  3.  '  Luke  xxiv.  27. 

•  Matt,  xxviii.  19.  '  Luke  xxiv.  50,  51. 


THE   CHARACTER   OF   CHRIST.  2/ 

single  word  unworthy  of  His  exalted  and  blessed  mission. 
The  narratives  of  the  evangelists  supply  clear  internal  evi- 
dence that,  when  they  described  the  history  of  Jesus,  they 
copied  from  a  living  original ;  for  otherwise  no  four  individuals, 
certainly  no  four  Jews,  could  have  each  furnished  such  a  por- 
trait of  so  great  and  so  singular  a  personage.  Combining  the 
highest  respect  for  the  institutions  of  Moses  with  a  spirit 
eminently  catholic.  He  was  at  once  a  devout  Israelite  and  a 
large-hearted  citizen  of  the  world.  Rising  far  superior  to  the 
prejudices  of  His  countrymen,  He  visited  Samaria,  and  con- 
versed freely  with  its  population  ;  and,  when  declaring  that 
He  was  sent  specially  to  the  seed  of  Abraham,  He  was  ready 
to  extend  His  sympathy  to  their  bitterest  enemies.  Though 
He  took  on  Him  the  form  of  a  servant,  there  was  nothing 
mean  or  servile  in  His  behavior ;  for,  when  He  humbled 
Himself,  there  was  ever  about  Him  an  air  of  condescending 
majesty.  Whether  He  administers  comfort  to  the  mourner, 
or  walks  upon  the  waves  of  the  sea,  or  replies  to  the  cavils  of 
the  Pharisees,  He  is  still  the  same  calm,  holy,  and  gracious 
Saviour.  When  His  passion  was  immediately  in  view.  He 
was  as,  kind  and  as  considerate  as  ever,  for,  on  the  very  night 
in  which  He  was  betrayed,  He  was  employed  in  the  institution 
of  an  ordinance  which  was  to  serve  as  a  sign  and  a  seal  of 
His  grace  throughout  all  generations.  His  character  is  as 
sublime  as  it  is  original.  It  has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of 
the  human  family.  The  impostor  is  cunning,  the  demagogue 
is  turbulent,  and  the  fanatic  is  absurd ;  but  the  conduct  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  uniformly  gentle  and  serene,  candid,  courteous, 
and  consistent.  Well,  indeed,  may  His  name  be  called 
Wonderful.  "  He  was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made 
by  him,  and  the  world  knew  him  not.  He  came  unto  his 
own,  and  his  own  received  him  not.  But  as  marty  as  re- 
ceived him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of 
God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name." ' 


John 


28  THE   YEAR   OF   CHRIST'S   BIRTH. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTE   TO  CHAPTER  II. 

THE  YEAR   OF   CHRIST'S   BIRTH. 

The  Christian  era  commences  on  the  ist  of  January  of  the  year  754  of 
the  city  of  Rome.  That  our  Lord  was  born  about  the  time  stated  in  the 
text  may  appear  from  the  following  considerations: 

The  visit  of  the  'wise  7nen  to  Bethlehem  must  have  taken  place  a  very 
few  days  after  the  birth  of  Jesus,  a7id  before  His  presentation  in  the  temple. 
Bethlehem  was  not  the  stated  residence  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  either  before 
or  after  the  birth  of  the  child  (Luke  i.  26,  ii.  4,  39 ;  Matt.  ii.  2).  They 
were  obliged  to  repair  to  the  place  on  account  of  the  taxing,  and  imme- 
diately after  the  presentation  in  the  temple,  they  returned  to  Nazareth  and 
dwelt  there  (Luke  ii.  39).  Had  the  visit  of  the  wise  men  occurred,  as  some 
think,  six,  or  twelve,  or  eighteen  months  after  the  birth,  the  question  of 
Herod  to  "  the  chief  priests  and  scribes  of  the  people  "  where  "  Christ 
should  be  born,"  would  have  been  quite  vain,  as  the  infant  might  have 
been  removed  long  before  to  another  part  of  the  country.  The  wise  men 
manifestly  expected  to  see  a  newly-born  infant,  and  hence  they  asked, 
"  Where  is  he  that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews  ?  "  (Matt.  ii.  2.)  The  evangelist 
also  states  expressly  that  they  came  to  Jerusalem  "when  Jesus  was  born  " 
(Matt.  ii.  i).  At  a  subsequent  period  they  would  have  found  the  Holy 
Child,  not  at  Bethlehem,  but  at  Nazareth. 

The  only  plausible  objection  to  this  view  of  the  matter  is  derived  from 
the  statement  that  Herod  "  sent  forth  and  slew  all  the  children  that  were 
in  Bethlehem  and  in  all  the  coasts  thereof,  from  two  years  old  and  U7iiier, 
according  to  the  time  which  he  had  diligently  inquired  of  the  wise  men  " 
^Matt.  ii.  16).  The  king  had  ascertained  from  these  sages  "  what  time  the 
star  appeared  "  (Matt.  ii.  7),  and  they  seem  to  have  informed  him  that  it 
had  been  visible  a  year  before.  A  Jewish  child  was  said  to  be  two  years 
old  whejt  it  had  entered  on  its  second  year  (see  Greswell's  "  Dissertations," 
vol.  ii.,  136)  ;  and,  to  make  sure  of  his  prey,  Herod  murdered  all  the  infants 
in  Bethlehem  and  the  neighborhood  under  the  age  of  thirteen  months. 
The  wise  men  had  not  told  him  that  the  child  was  a  year  old — it  was  ob- 
vious that  they  thought  very  differently — but  the  tyrant  butchered  all  who 
came  within  the  range  of  suspicion.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the  star 
announced  the  appearance  of  the  Messiah  twelve  months  before  he  was 
born.  Such  an  intimation  was  given  of  the  birth  of  Isaac,  who  was  a  re- 
markable type  of  Christ.  Gen.  xvii.  21.  See  also  2  Kings  iv.  16,  and  Dan. 
iv.  29,  33. 

The  presentation  of  the  infant  in  the  temple  occurred  after  the  death  of 
Herod.  This  follows  as  a  corollary  from  what  has  been  already  advanced, 
for  if  the  wise  mtn  visited  Bethlehem  immediately  after  the  birth,  and  if 
the  child  was  then  hurried  away  to  Egypt,  the  presentation  could  not  have 
taken  place  earlier.     The  ceremony  was  performed  forty  days  after  the 


THE   YEAR   OF   CHRIST'S   BIRTH.  29 

hirth  (Luke  ii.  22,  and  Lev.  xii.  2,  3,  4),  and  as  the  flight  and  the  return 
might  both  have  been  accomplished  in  ten  or  twelve  days,  there  was  ample 
time  for  a  sojourn  of  two  or  three  weeks  in  that  part  of  Egypt  which  was 
nearest  to  Palestine.  Herod  died  during  this  brief  exile,  and  yet  his  de- 
mise happened  so  soon  before  the  departure  of  the  holy  family  on  their 
way  home,  that  the  intelligence  had  not  meanwhile  reached  Joseph  by  the 
voice  of  ordinary  fame ;  and  until  his  arrival  in  the  land  of  Israel,  he  did 
not  even  know  that  Archelaus  reigned  in  Judea  (Matt.  ii.  22).  He  inferred 
from  the  dream  that  the  dynasty  of  the  Herodian  family  had  been  com- 
pletely subverted,  so  that  when  he  heard  of  the  succession  of  Archelaus 
"  he  was  afraid "  to  enter  his  territory ;  but,  at  this  juncture,  being 
"  counselled  of  God  "  in  another  dream,  he  took  courage,  proceeded  on  his 
journey,  and,  after  the  presentation  in  the  temple,  "  returned  into  the  parts 
of  Galilee." 

That  the  presentation  in  the  temple  took  place  after  the  death  of  Herod 
is  further  manifest  from  the  fact  that  the  babe  remained  uninjured,  though 
his  appearance  in  the  sacred  courts  awakened  uncommon  interest,  and 
though  Anna  "  spake  of  him  to  all  them  that  looked  for  redemption  in 
Jerusalem  "  (Luke  ii.  38).  Herod  had  his  spies  in  all  quarters,  and  had  he 
been  yet  living,  the  intelligence  of  the  presentation  and  of  its  extraordinary 
accompaniments,  must  have  soon  reached  his  ears,  and  he  would  have  made 
some  fresh  attempt  upon  the  life  of  the  infant.  But  when  the  babe  was 
actually  brought  to  the  temple,  the  tyrant  was  no  more.  Jerusalem  was 
in  a  state  of  great  political  excitement,  and  Archelaus  had,  perhaps,  already 
set  sail  for  Rome  to  secure  from  the  emperor  the  confirmation  of  his  title 
to  the  kingdom  (see  Josephus'  "Antiq."  xvii.  c.  9),  so  that  it  is  not  strange  if 
the  declarations  of  Simeon  and  Anna  did  not  attract  any  notice  on  the  part 
of  the  existing  rulers. 

Assuming,  then,  that  Christ  was  born  a  very  short  time  before  the 
death  of  Herod,  we  have  now  to  ascertain  the  date  of  the  demise  of  that 
monarch.  Josephus  states  ("Antiq."  xiv.  14,  §  5)  that  Herod  was  made  king 
by  the  Roman  Senate  in  the  184th  Olympiad,  when  Calvinus  and  Pollio 
were  consuls,  that  is,  in  the  year  of  Rome  714;  and  that  he  reigned  thirty- 
seven  years  ("Antiq.''  xvii.  8,  §  i).  We  may  infer,  therefore,  that  his  reign 
terminated  in  the  year  751  of  the  city  of  Rome.  He  died  shortly  before 
the  passover  ;  his  disease  was  of  a  very  lingering  character ;  and  he  appears 
to  have  languished  under  it  upwards  of  a  year  (Josephus'  "Antiq."  xvii.  6, 
§§  4,  5,  and  xvii.  9,  §§  2,  3).  The  passover  of  751  fell  on  the  31st  of  March 
(see  Greswell's  "  Dissertations,"  vol.  i.,  p.  331),  and  as  our  Lord  was  in  all 
likelihood  born  early  in  the  month,  the  Jewish  king  probably  ended  his 
days  a  week  or  two  afterward,  or  about  the  time  of  the  vernal  equinox. 
According  to  this  computation  the  co7tccptio7i  took  place  at  the  feast  of 
Pentecost,  which  fell,  in  750,  on  the  31st  of  May. 

This  view  is  corroborated  by  Luke  iii.  i,  where  it  is  said  that  the  word 


30  THE   YEAR   OF   CHRIST'S   BIRTH. 

of  God  came  to  John  the  Baptist  "  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reig-n  of 
Tiberius  Cesar."  John's  ministry  had  continued  only  a  short  time  when 
he  was  imprisoned,  and  then  Jesus  "  began  to  he.  about  thirty  ytzxs  of  age  " 
(Luke  iii.  23).  Augustus  died  in  AugTJst  767,  and  this  year  767,  accord- 
ing to  a  mode  of  recl-ioning  then  in  use  (see  Hales'  "  Chronology,"  i.  49, 
171,  and  Luke  xxiv.  21),  was  X\\&  first  year  of  his  successor,  Tiberius.  The 
fifteenth  year  of  Tiberius,  according  to  the  same  mode  of  calculation,  com- 
menced on  the  ist  of  January,  781  of  the  city  of  Rome,  and  terminated  on 
the  1st  of  January,  782.  If  our  Lord  was  born  about  the  ist  of  Marchi 
751  of  Rome,  and  if  the  Baptist  was  imprisoned  early  in  781,  Jesus  then 
"  began  to  be  about  thirty  years  of  age."  This  view  is  further  confirmed 
by  the  fact  that  Quirinius,  or  Cyrenius,  mentioned  in  Luke  ii.  2,  was  first 
governor  of  Syria  from  the  close  of  the  year  750  of  Rome  to  753.  (See 
Merivale,  iv.,  p.  457,  note.)  Our  Lord  was  born  under  his  administra- 
tion, and  according  to  the  date  we  have  assigned  to  the  nativity,  the 
"taxing"  at  Bethlehem  took  place  a  few  months  after  Cyrenius  entered 
into  office. 

This  view  of  the  date  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  which  differs  somewhat 
from  that  of  any  writer  with  whom  I  am  acquainted,  meets  all  the  difficul. 
ties  connected  with  this  much-disputed  question.  It  is  based  partly  upon 
the  principle  so  ingeniously  advocated  by  Whiston  in  his  "  Chronology," 
that  the  flight  into  Egypt  took  place  before  the  presentation  in  the  temple. 
I  have  never  yet  met  with  any  antagonist  of  that  hypothesis  able  to  give  a 
satisfactory  explanation  of  the  text  on  which  it  rests.  Some  other  dates 
assigned  for  the  birth  of  Christ  are  quite  inadmissible.  In  Judea  shep- 
herds are  not  found  "  abiding  in  the  field,  keeping  watch  over  their  flock 
by  night"  (Luke  ii.  8)  in  November,  December,  January,  or,  perhaps, 
February  ;  but  in  March,  and  especially  in  a  mild  season,  such  a  thing  is 
quite  common.  (See  Greswell's  "  Dissertations,"  vol.  i.,  p.  391,  and  Robin- 
son's "  Biblical  Researches,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  97,  98.)  Hippolytus,  one  of  the 
earliest  Christian  writers  who  touches  on  the  subject,  indicates  that  our 
Lord  was  born  about  the  time  of  the  passover.  (See  Greswell,  i.,  461, 
463.) 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE   TWELVE   AND   THE   SEVENTY. 

It  has  often  been  remarked  that  the  personal  preaching  of 
our  Lord  was  comparatively  barren.  The  effects  produced 
were  not  what  might  have  been  expected  from  so  wonderful 
a  ministry;  but  it  had  been  predicted  that  the  Messiah  was 
to  be  *'  despised  and  rejected  of  men,"  '  and  the  unbelief  of  the 
Jews  constituted  one  of  the  trials  He  was  ordained  to  suffer 
during  His  abode  on  earth.  "  The  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet 
given,  because  that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified." "  We  have, 
certainly,  no  evidence  that  any  of  His  discourses  made  such 
an  impression  as  that  which  accompanied  the  address  of  Peter 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  Immediately  after  the  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit  at  that  period  an  abundant  blessing  followed  the 
proclamation  of  the  Gospel.  But  though  Jesus  often  mourned 
over  the  obduracy  of  His  countrymen,  and  though  the  truth, 
when  preached  by  His  disciples,  was  often  more  effective  than 
when  uttered  by  Himself,  it  can  not  with  propriety  be  said 
that  His  own  evangelical  labors  were  quite  unfruitful.  The 
one  hundred  and  twenty,  who  met  in  an  upper  room  during 
the  interval,  between  His  Ascension  and  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost,' were  but  a  portion  of  His  followers.  The  fierce  and 
watchful  opposition  of  the  Sanhedrim  had  kept  Him  generally 
at  a  distance  from  Jerusalem  ;  it  was  there  specially  dangerous 
to  profess  an  attachment  to  His  cause  ;  and  we  may  thus  par- 
tially account  for  the  paucity  of  His  adherents  in  the  Jewish 
metropolis.  His  converts  were  more  numerous  in  Galilee  ; 
and  it  was,  probably,  in  that  district  He  appeared  to  the  com- 
pany of  upwards  of  five  hundred  brethren  who  saw  Him  after 

*  Isa.  liii.  3.  '  John  vii.  39.  '  Acts  i.  1 5. 

(31) 


32  THE   TWELVE   AND   THE   SEVENTY. 

His  resurrection.'  He  had  itinerated  extensively  as  a  mission- 
ary ;  and,  from  some  statements  incidentally  occurring  in  the 
Gospels,  we  infer  that  individuals  had  imbibed  His  doctrines 
in  the  cities  and  villages  of  almost  all  parts  of  Palestine.'  In 
a  statistical  point  of  view,  His  ministry  was  "  the  day  of  small 
things  ";  and  yet  it  was  not  absolutely  barren  :  for,  during  the 
three  years  of  its  duration.  He  enlisted  and  sent  forth  no  less 
than  eighty-two  preachers.  Part  of  these  have  since  been 
known  as  "  The  Twelve,"  and  the  rest  as  "  The  Seventy." 

The  Twelve  are  frequently  mentioned  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  yet  the  information  we  possess  respecting  them  is 
exceedingly  scanty.  Of  some  we  know  little  more  than  their 
names.  It  is  thought  that  a  town  called  Kerioth,'  or  Karioth> 
belonging  to  the  tribe  of  Judah,  was  the  birthplace  of  Judas, 
the  traitor;^  but  all  His  colleagues  were  natives  of  Galilee.' 
Some  of  them  had  various  names  ;  and  the  consequent  diver- 
sity which  the  sacred  catalogues  present  has  frequently  per- 
plexed the  reader  of  the  evangelical  narratives.  Matthew  was 
also  called  Levi ;  °  Nathanael  was  designated  Bartholomew  ;  ^ 
and  Jude  had  the  two  other  names  of  Lebbjeus  and  Thad- 
daeus.*  Thomas  was  called  Didymus,"  or  t/ie  twin,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  circumstances  of  his  birth  ;  James  the  son  of 
Alphaius  was  styled,  perhaps  by  way  of  distinction,  James 

'  I  Cor.  XV,  6.  "^  See  Matt.  xv.  31  ;  John  ii.  23,  vii.  31,  viii.  30. 

^  See  Joshua  xv.  25. 

*  Hence  called  Iscariot,  that  is,  Ish  Kerioth,  or,  a  man  of  Kerioth.  See 
Alford,  "  Greek  Test.,"  Matt.  x.  4. 

'  Acts  ii.  7. 

°  Compare  Matt.  ix.  9,  10,  and  Mark  ii.  14,  15. 

^  "  As  St.  John  never  mentions  Bartholomew  in  the  number  of  the  apos- 
tles, so  the  other  evangelists  nevf  r  take  notice  of  Nathanael,  probably  be- 
cause the  same  person  under  two  several  names  ;  and  as  in  John,  Philip 
and  Nathanael  are  joined  together  in  their  coming  to  Christ,  so  in  the  rest 
of  the  evangelists,  Philip  and  Bartholomew  are  constantly  put  together 
without  the  least  variation." — Cave's  Lives  of  the  Apostles,  Life  of  Barthol- 
omew.    Compare  Matt.  x.  3  ;  Acts  i.  13;  and  John  i.  45,  xxi.  2. 

*  Compare  Matt.  x.  3,  and  Acts  i.  13. 
"  John  xi.  16,  xxi.  2. 


THE   TWELVE  AND   THE   SEVENTY.  33 

"the  Less"' — in  allusion  to  the  inferiority  of  his  stature;  the 
other  James  and  John  were  surnamed  Boanerges,'''  or  the  sons 
of  thunder — a  title  indicative  of  the  peculiar  solemnity  and 
power  of  their  ministrations  ;  and  Simon  stands  at  the  head 
of  all  the  lists,  and  is  expressly  said  to  be  "  first "  of  the 
Twelve,^  because  whilst  his  advanced  age  warranted  him  to 
claim  precedence,  his  superior  energy  and  promptitude  enabled 
him  to  occupy  the  most  prominent  position.  The  same  indi- 
vidual is  called  Cephas,  or  Peter,  or  Stone,''  on  account  of  the 
firmness  of  his  character.  His  namesake,  the  other  Simon,  is 
termed  the  Canaanite,  and  also  Zelotes,^  or  the  zealot — a  title 
expressive  of  the  zeal  and  earnestness  with  which  he  was  wont 
to  carry  out  his  principles.  Our  Lord  sent  forth  the  Twelve 
"by  two  and  two,"  °  but  we  are  not  told  whether  He  observed 
any  general  rule  in  the  arrangement  of  those  who  travelled  in 
company.     The  relationship  of  the  parties  to  each  other,  at 

1  Mark  xv.  40.  According  to  some  he  was  related  to  our  Lord,  and 
hence  called  His  brother  (Gal.  i.  19).  But  though  Mary,  the  mother  of  our 
Saviour,  had  evidently  several  sons  (see  Matt.  i.  20,  25,  compared  with 
Matt.  xiii.  55  ;  Mark  vi.  3  ;  Matt.  xii.  46,  47),  they  were  not  disciples  when 
the  apostles  were  appointed,  and  none  of  them  consequently  could  have 
been  of  the  Twelve.  (See  John  vii.  5.)  The  other  sons  of  Mary,  who  were 
all  younger  than  Jesus,  seem  to  have  been  converted  about  the  time  of  the 
resurrection.  Hence  they  are  found  among  the  disciples  before  the  day  of 
Pentecost  (Acts  1.  14).  On  this  subject  see  an  able  article  in  the  Princeton 
Review  for  January,  1865,  pp.  1-53.  See  also  Alford's  "  New  Testament," 
iv.,  Prol.  89-97. 

*  Mark  iii.  17.  ^  Matt.  x.  2.  *  John  i.  42, 

"Matt.  x.  4;  Mark  iii.  18;  Luke  vi.  15;  Acts  i.  13.  Some  think  that 
Kanattites  is  equivalent  to  Zelotes,  whilst  others  contend  that  it  is  derived 
from  a  village  called  Canan,  See  Alford,  "  Greek  Test.,"  Matt.  x.  4  ;  and 
•Greswell's  "  Dissertations,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  128.     Some  MSS.  have  l^avavaloq. 

®  Mark  vi.  7.  "Although  no  two  of  these  catalogues  (of  the  Twelve) 
agree  precisely  in  the  order  of  the  names,  they  may  all  be  divided  into  three 
quaternions,  which  are  never  interchanged,  and  the  leading  names  of  which 
are  the  same  in  all.  Thus  the  first  is  always  Peter,  the  fifth  Philip,  the 
ninth  James  the  son  of  Alpheus,  and  the  twelfth  Judas  Iscariot.  An- 
other difference  is  that  Matthew  and  Luke's  Gospel  gives  the  names  in 
pairs,  or  two  and  two,  while  Mark  enumerates  them  singly,  and  the  list 
before  us  (in  the  Acts)  follows  both  these  methods,  one  after  the  other." — 
Alexander  on  the  Acts,  vol.  i.,  p.  19. 
3 


34  THE  APOSTLES   NOT   EXTREMELY   POOR. 

least  in  three  instances,  suggested  a  classification  ;  as  Peter 
and  Andrew,  James  and  John,  James  the  Less  and  Judewere, 
respectively,  brothers.  Some  of  the  disciples,  such  as  Andrew/ 
and  John,*  had  previously  been  disciples  of  the  Baptist  ;  but 
their  separation  from  their  former  master  and  adherence  to 
Jesus  did  not  lead  to  any  estrangement  between  our  Lord  and 
His  pious  forerunner.  As  the  Baptist  contemplated  the  more 
permanent  and  important  character  of  the  Messiah's  mission, 
he  could  cheerfully  say,  "  He  must  increase,  but  I  must  de- 
crease." ' 

All  the  Twelve,  when  enlisted  as  disciples  of  Christ,  moved 
in  the  humbler  walks  of  life  ;  and  yet  we  are  not  warranted  in 
asserting  that  they  were  extremely  indigent.  Peter,  the  fish- 
erman, indicates  that,  in  regard  to  worldly  circumstances,  he 
had  been  a  loser  by  obeying  the  call  of  Jesus.*  Though  James 
and  John  were  likewise  fisherpien,  the  family  had  at  least  one 
little  vessel  of  their  own,  and  they  could  afford  to  pay  "  hired 
servants  "  to  assist  them  in  their  business.'  Matthew  acted, 
in  a  subordinate  capacity,  as  a  collector  of  imperial  tribute ; 
but  though  the  Jews  cordially  hated  a  functionary  who  brought 
so  painfully  to  their  recollection  their  condition  as  a  conquered 
people,  the  publican  was  engaged  in  a  lucrative  employment. 
Zacchffius,  a  "  chief  among  the  publicans," '  was  a  rich  man  -^ 
and  Matthew  was  able  to  give  an  entertainment  in  his  own 
house  to  a  numerous  company.*  Still,  however,  tlie  Twelve, 
as  a  body,  were  qualified,  neither  by  their  education  nor  their 
habits,  for  acting  as  popular  instructors  ;  and  had  the  Gospel 
been  a  device  of  human  wisdom,  it  could  not  have  been  pro- 
moted by  their  advocacy.  Individuals  who  had  hitherto  been 
occupied  in  tilling  the  land,  in  fishing,  and  in  mending  nets, 
or  in  sitting  at  the  receipt  of  custom,  were  not  fitted  to  make 
any  great  impression  as  ecclesiastical  reformers.     Their  posi- 

'  John  i.  35,  40. 

*  From  the  great  minuteness  of  the  statements  in  the  passage,  it  has  been 
inferred  that  the  evangelist  himself  was  the  second  of  the  two  disciples 
mentioned  in  John  i.  35-37. 

'  John  iii.  30.  *  Matt.  xix.  27.  '  Mark  i.  20. 

•  Luke  xix.  2.  '  Luke  xix.  2.  '  Mark  ii.  21. 


THE   APOSTLES   NOT   LEARNED.  35 

tion  in  society  gave  them  no  influence  ;  their  natural  talents 
were  not  particularly  brilliant  ;  and  even  their  dialect  beto- 
kened their  connection  with  a  district  from  which  nothing 
good  or  great  was  anticipated.'  But  God  exalted  these  men 
of  low  degree,  and  made  them  the  spiritual  illuminators  of  the 
world. 

Though  the  New  Testament  enters  very  sparingly  into  the 
details  of  their  personal  history,  it  is  plain  that  the  Twelve 
presented  a  considerable  variety  of  character.  Thomas,  though 
obstinate,  was  warm-hearted  and  manly.  Once  when,  as  he 
imagined,  his  Master  was  going  forward  to  certain  death,  he 
chivalrously  proposed  to  his  brethren  that  they  should  all 
perish  along  with  Him  ;*  and  though  at  first  he  doggedly  re- 
fused to  credit  the  account  of  the  resurrection,*  yet,  when  his 
doubts  were  removed,  he  gave  vent  to  his  feelings  in  one  of 
the  most  impressive  testimonies '  to  the  power  and  godhead 
of  the  Messiah  to  be  found  in  the  whole  book  of  revelation. 
Nathanael  was  frank  and  candid — "  an  Israelite  indeed,  in 
whom  was  no  guile."  ^  Our  Lord  bestowed  on  Peter  and  the 
two  sons  of  Zebedee  peculiar  proofs  of  confidence  and  favor, 
for  they  alone  were  permitted  to  witness  some  of  the  most  re- 
markable scenes  in  the  history  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows.' 
Though  these  three  brethren  displayed  such  a  congeniality  of 
disposition,  they  did  not  possess  minds  of  the  same  mould, 
but  each  had  excellences  of  his  own  which  threw  a  charm 
around  his  character.  Peter  yielded  to  the  impulse  of  the 
moment  and  acted  with  promptitude  and  vigor;  James  be- 
came the  first  of  the  apostolic  martyrs,  probably  because  by 
his  ability  and  boldness,  as  a  preacher,  he  had  provoked  the 
special  enmity  of  Herod  and  the  Jews  '^  whilst  the  benevolent 
John  delighted  to  meditate  on  the  "deep  things  of  God,"  and 
listened  with  profound  emotion  to  his  Master  as  He  discoursed 

1  John  vii.  52.  *  John  xi.  16.     See  also  v.  8. 

'  John  XX.  25.  *  John  xx.  28. 

*  John  i.  47.  '  Mark  v.  37,  ix.  2 ;  Matt.  xxvi.  37. 

'  Acts  xii.  2,  3.  "  It  is  remarkable  that,  so  far  as  we  know,  one  of  these 
inseparable  brothers  (James  and  John)  was  the  first,  and  one  the  last,  that 
died  of  the  apostles." — Alexander  Ofi  the  Acts,  i.  443. 


36        VARIETY   OF   CHARACTER   AMONG  THE   APOSTLES. 

of  the  mystery  of  His  Person,  and  of  the  peace  of  believers 
abiding  in  His  love.  It  has  been  conjectured  that  there  was 
some  family  relationship  between  the  sons  of  Zebedee  and 
Jesus  ;  but  of  this  there  is  no  satisfactory  evidence.*  It  was 
simply,  perhaps,  the  marked  attention  of  our  Saviour  to  James 
and  John  which  awakened  the  ambition  of  their  mother,  and 
induced  her  to  bespeak  their  promotion  in  the  kingdom  of  the 
Son  of  Man.' 

Though  none  of  the  Twelve  had  received  a  liberal  educa- 
tion,^ it  can  not  be  said  that  they  were  literally  "  novices " 
when  invested  with  the  ministerial  commission.  It  is  probable 
that,  before  they  were  invited  to  follow  Jesus,  they  had  all  seri- 
ously turned  their  attention  to  the  subject  of  religion ;  some 
of  them  had  been  previously  instructed  by  the  Baptist  ;  and 
all,  prior  to  their  selection,  had  been  about  a  year  under  the 
tuition  of  our  Lord  himself.  From  that  time  till  the  end 
of  His  ministry  they  lived  with  Him  on  terms  of  the  most  in. 
timate  familiarity.  From  earlier  acquaintance,  as  well  as  from 
closer  and  more  confidential  companionship,  they  had  a  bet- 
ter opportunity  of  knowing  His  character  and  doctrines 
than  the  rest  of  His  disciples.  When,  about  six  or  eight 
months '  after  their  appointment,  they  were  sent  forth  as  mis- 
sionaries, they  were  commanded  neither  to  walk  in  "  the  way 
of  the  Gentiles,"  nor  to  enter  "  into  any  city  of  the  Samaritans," 
but  to  go  "  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel."  '  Their 
number,  Tiuelve,  corresponded  to  the  number  of  the  tribes  ; 
and  they  were  called  apostles,  in  allusion  to  a  class  of  Jewish 
functionaries  who  were  so  designated,  for  the  High-Priest  was 
wont  to  send  forth  from  Jerusalem  into  foreign  countries  cer- 

'  See  Greswell's  "  Dissertations,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  115. 

"  Matt.  XX.  20,  21. 

'  Some  writers  have  asserted  that  Philip  and  Nathanael  were  learned 
men,  but  of  this  there  is  no  good  evidence.  See  Cave's  "  Lives  of  the 
Apostles,"  Philip  and  Bartholomew. 

*  Greswell  makes  it  nine  months.  See  his  "  Harmonia  Evangelica,"  pp. 
xxiv.  xxvi. 

•  Matt.  X.  5,  6. 


THE   SEVENTY.  37 

tain  accredited  agents,  or  messengers,  styled  apostles,  on  ec- 
clesiastical errands.' 

During  the  personal  ministry  of  our  Lord,. the  Twelve  were 
employed  by  Him  on  only  one  missionary  excursion.  About 
twelve  months  after  that  event  ^  He  "  appointed  other  seventy 
also  "  to  preach  His  Gospel.  Luke  is  the  only  evangelist  who 
mentions  the  designation  of  these  additional  missionaries  ;  and 
though  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  their  duties  termina- 
ted with  the  first  tour  in  which  they  were  engaged,^  they  are 
never  subsequently  noticed  in  the  New  Testament.  Many  of 
the  actions  of  our  Lord  had  a  typical  meaning,  and  He  de- 
signed to  inculcate  an  important  truth  by  the  appointment  of 
these  Seventy  new  apostles.  According  to  the  ideas  of  the 
Jews  of  that  age  there  were  seventy  heathen  nations  ;  *  and  it 
is  rather  singular  that,  omitting  Peleg,  the  progenitor  of  the 
Israelites,  the  names  of  the  posterity  of  Shem,  Ham,  and 
Japheth,  recorded  in  the  loth  chapter  of  Genesis,  amount 
exactly  to  seventy.  "  These,"  says  the  historian,  "  are  the 
families  of  the  sons  of  Noah,  after  their  gefieratio7is,  in  their 
nations  ;  and  by  these  were  the  nations  divided  in  the  earth  after 
the  flood."  ^  Every  one  who  looks  into  the  narrative  will  per- 
ceive that  the  sacred  writer  does  not  propose  to  furnish  a  com- 
plete catalogue  of  the  descendants  of  Noah,  for  he  passes  over 
in  entire  silence  the  posterity  of  the  greater  number  of  the 

'  See  Vitringa,  "  De  Synagoga  Vetere,"  p.  577,  and  Mosheim's  "  Com- 
mentaries," by  Vidal,  vol.  i.,  120-2,  note. 

^  This  is  the  calculation  of  Greswell,  "  Harmonia  Evangelica,"  pp.  xxvi., 
xxxi.  Robinson  makes  the  interval  considerably  shorter.  See  his  "  Har- 
mony of  the  Four  Gospels  in  Greek." 

'  They  received  new  powers  at  the  close  of  their  first  missionary  excur- 
sion.    See  Luke  x.  19. 

*  Selden,  in  his  treatise  "  De  Synedriis,"  supplies  some  curious  informa- 
tion on  this  subject.  See  lib.  ii.,  cap.  9,  §  3.  See  also  some  singular  specu- 
lations respecting  it  in  Baumgarten's  "  TheologischerCommentar  zum  Pen- 
tateuch," i.  153,  351.  Some  of  the  fathers  speak  of  seventy-two  disciples 
and  of  seventy-two  nations  and  tongues.  See  Stieren's  "  Irenasus,"  i.,  p.  544, 
note,  and  Epiphanius,  torn,  i.,  p.  50,  Edit.  Colonic,  1682 ;  compared  with 
Greswell's  "  Dissertations,"  ii.,  p.  7. 

'  Gen.  X.  32. 


38 


THE   SEVENTY. 


patriarch's  grandchildren  ;  he  names  only  those  who  were  the 
founders  of  nations ;  and  thus  it  happens,  that  whilst,  in  a 
variety  of  instances,  he  does  not  trace  the  line  of  succession* 
he  takes  care,  in  others,  to  mention  the  father  and  many  of  his 
sons,'     The  Jewish  notion  current  in  the  time  of  our  Lord  as 


'  The  following  tabular  view  of  the  names  of  the  descendants  of  Shem, 
Ham,  and  Japheth,  mentioned  in  the  loth  chapter  of  Genesis,  will  illustrate 
this  statement : 


SHEM, 

HAM. 

Elam.    Asshur.   Arphaxad, 

Lud. 

Aram. 

Gush, 

Mizraim,      Phut. 

Canaan, 

Sa]ah, 

Uz, 

Seba, 

Ludim, 

Sidon, 

Eber, 

Hul, 

Havilah, 

Anamim, 

Heth, 

Peleg, 

Gether, 

Sabtah, 

Lehabim, 

Jebusite, 

Joktan, 

Mash. 

Raamah, 

Naphtuhim, 

Amorite, 

Almodad, 

Sabtecha, 

Pathrusim, 

Girgasite, 

Sheleph, 

Sheba, 

Casluhim, 

Hivite, 

Hazarmaveth. 

Dedan, 

Gaphtorim, 

Arkite, 

Jerah, 

Nimrod. 

Fhilistim. 

Sinite, 

Hadoram, 

Arvadite, 

Uzal, 

Zemarite, 

Diklah, 

Hamathite 

Obal, 

Abimael, 

Sheba, 

Ophir, 

Havilah, 

Jobab. 

JAPH 

ETH. 

Gomer, 

Magog. 

Madai. 

Javan, 

Tubal,        Meshech 

Tiras. 

Ashkenaz, 

Elishah, 

Riphath, 

Tarshish, 

Togarmah. 

Kittim, 
Dodanim. 

It  often  happens  that  one  branch  of  a  family  is  exceedingly  prolific,  whilst 
another  is  barren.  So  it  was  with  the  descendants  of  the  three  sons  ot 
Noah.  Thus  Elam,  Asshur,  and  others,  each  founded  only  one  nation, 
whilst  Arphaxad  and  his  posterity  founded  eighteen.  This  view  of  the  mat- 
ter is  sustained  by  the  authority  of  Augustine.  "  Why,"  says  he,  "  when 
eight  (seven  ?)  sons  of  Japheth  are  enumerated,  are  the  descendants  of  two 
of  them  only  added  ?  And  when  six  (five  ?)  sons  of  Shem  are  named,  why 
are  the  posterity  of  two  only  annexed  ?  Did  the  others  remain  without  off- 
spring ?  This  can  not  be  believed  ;  hut  they  did  not  originate  nations  on 
account  of  which  they  should  be  worthy  of  commemoration."  City  of  God, 
book  xvi.  c.  3.  Augustine  here  reckons  according  to  the  Septuagint,  which 
assigns  eight  sons  to  Japheth  and  six  to  Shem. 


THE   SEVENTY.  39 

to  the  existence  of  seventy  heathen  nations  rested,  therefore, 
on  a  sound  historical  basis,  inasmuch  as,  according  to  the 
Mosaic  statement,  there  were,  besides  Peleg,  precisely  seventy 
individuals  by  whom  "  the  nations  were  divided  in  the  earth 
after  the  flood."  We  may  thus  infer  that  our  Lord  meant  to 
convey  a  great  moral  lesson  by  the  appointment  alike  of  the 
Twelve  and  of  the  Seventy.  In  the  ordination  of  the  Twelve 
He  evinced  His  regard  for  all  the  tribes  of  Israel ;  in  the  or- 
dination of  the  Seventy  He  intimated  that  His  Gospel  was  de- 
signed for  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  When  the  Twelve  en- 
tered on  their  first  mission  He  required  them  to  go  only  to  the 
Jews,  but  He  sent  forth  the  Seventy  "  two  and  two  before 
His  face  tnto  every  city  and  place  zvhither  He  himself  would 
come!' '  Toward  the  commencement  of  His  public  career, 
He  had  induced  many  of  the  Samaritans  to  believe  on  Him,^ 
whilst  at  a  subsequent  period  His  ministry  had  been  blessed 
to  Gentiles  in  the  coasts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  ; '  and  there  is  no 
evidence  that  in  the  missionary  journey  which  He  contem- 
plated when  He  appointed  the  Seventy  as  His  pioneers,  He  in- 
tended to  confine  His  labors  to  His  kinsmen  of  the  seed  of 
Abraham.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the  Seventy  were  actual- 
ly sent  forth  from  Samaria,^  and  the  instructions  given  them 
suggest  that,  in  the  circuit  assigned  to  them,  they  were  to 
visit  certain  districts  lying  north  of  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles." 
The  personal  ministry  of  our  Lord  had  respect  primarily  and 
specially  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,'  but  His 
conduct  in  this  case  symbolically  indicated  the  catholic  charac- 
ter of  His  religion.  He  evinced  His  regard  for  the  Jews  by 
sending  no  less  than  twelve  apostles  to  that  one  nation,  but 
He  did  not  Himself  refuse  to  minister  either  to  Samaritans 
or  Gentiles ;  and  to  show  that  He  was  disposed  to  make  pro- 
vision for  the  general  diffusion  of  His  word.  He  "  appointed 
other  seventy  also,  and    sent  them  two   and  two    before  his 

'  Luke  X.  I.  '^  John  iv.  39.  ^  Mark  vii.  24,  26,  30,  31. 

*  This  is  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Robinson,     See  his  "  Harmony."     See  also 
Luke  ix.  51,  52,  x.  33, 
"  Luke  X.  13,  17,  18.  '  Matt.  xv.  24. 


40  THE   SEVENTY. 

face  into  every  city  and  place  whither  he  himself  would 
come." 

It  is  very  clear  that  our  Lord  committed,  in  the  first  in- 
stance, to  the  Twelve  the  organization  of  the  ecclesiastical 
commonwealth.  The  most  ancient  Christian  church,  that  of 
the  metropolis  of  Palestine,  was  modelled  under  their  super- 
intendence ;  and  the  earliest  converts  gathered  into  it,  after 
His  ascension,  were  the  fruits  of  their  ministry.  Hence,  in 
the  Apocalypse,  the  wall  of  the  "  holy  Jerusalem  "  is  said  to 
have  "  twelve  foundations,  and  in  them  the  names  of  the 
twelve  apostles  of  the  Lamb." '  But  it  does  not  follow  that 
others  had  no  share  in  founding  the  spiritual  structure.  The 
Seventy  also  received  a  commission  from  Christ,  and  doubt- 
less, after  the  death  of  their  Master,  they  pursued  their  mis- 
sionary labors  with  renovated  ardor.  That  they  were  called 
apostles  as  well  as  the  Twelve,  can  not  be  established  by  dis- 
tinct testimony;'  but  it  is  certain  that  they  were  furnished 
with  supernatural  endowments;'  and  they  are  not  over- 
looked in  the  description  of  the  sacred  writer  when  he  repre- 
sents the  New  Testament  Church  as  "  built  upon  the  founda- 
tion of  \.\\Q  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the 
chief  corner-stone."  * 

The  appointment  of  the  Seventy,  like  that  of  the  Twelve, 
was  a  typical  act ;  and  it  is  not  therefore  extraordinary  that 
they  are  only  once  noticed  in  the  sacred  volume.  Our  Lord 
never  intended  to  constitute  two  permanent  corporations, 
limited,   respectively,   to  twelve   and   seventy  members,   and 

■  Rev.  xxi.  14. 

'  It  is  certain  that  some  were  called  apostles  who  were  not  of  the  number 
of  the  Twelve.  See  Acts  xiv.  4.  In  i  Cor.  xv.  5,  7,  both  "  the  Twelve," 
and  "all  the  apostles,"  are  mentioned,  and  it  may  be  that  the  Seventy  are 
included  under  the  latter  designation.  Such  was  the  opinion  of  Origen— 
kireiTa  To'iq  hffmtc  nnpa  Tohq  6cj(hKa  anooTiiloiq  nam,  rnxa  rolg  i^thfii/KovTa. 
"  Contra  Celsum."  lib.  ii.  65.  See  also  "  De  Recta  in  Deum  Fide,"  sec.  i., 
Opera,  torn  i.,  p.  806. 

"  Luke  X.  9,  16,  19,  24. 

*  Kph.  ii.  20.  See  also  Eph.  iii.  5.  It  is  evident,  especially  from  the  lat- 
ter passage,  that  the  prop/ie/s  here  spoken  of  belong  to  the  New  Testament 
Church, 


THE   SEVENTY.  4I 

empowered  to  transmit  their  authority  to  successors  from 
generation  to  generation.  After  His  death  the  symbolical 
meaning  of  the  mission  of  the  Seventy  was  explained,  as  the 
Gospel  was  soon  transmitted  to  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  and 
thus  it  was  no  longer  necessary  to  refer  to  these  represent- 
atives of  the  ministry  of  the  universal  Church.  When  the 
Twelve  turned  to  the  Gentiles,  their  number  lost  its  signifi- 
cance, and  from  that  date  they  accordingly  ceased  to  fill  up 
vacancies  occurring  in  their  society ;  and,  as  the  Church  as- 
sumed a  settled  form,  the  apostles  were  disposed  to  insist  less 
and  less  on  any  special  powers  with  which  they  had  been 
originally  furnished,  and  rather  to  place  themselves  on  a  level 
with  the  ordinary  rulers  of  the  ecclesiastical  community. 
Hence  we  find  them  sitting  in  church  courts  with  these  breth- 
ren,' and  desirous  to  be  known  not  as  apostles,  but  as  elders.' 
We  possess  little  information  respecting  either  their  ofificial  or 
their  personal  history.  A  very  equivocal,  and  sometimes  con- 
tradictory, tradition '  is  the  only  guide  which  even  professes 
to  point  out  to  us  where  the  greater  number  of  them  labored  ; 
and  the  same  witness  is  the  only  voucher  for  the  statements 
which  describe  how  most  of  them  finished  their  career.  It  is  an 
instructive  fact  that  no  proof  can  be  given  from  the  sacred 
record,  of  the  ordination,  either  by  the  Twelve  or  by  the 
Seventy,  of  even  one  presbyter  or  pastor.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  laying  on  of  hands  upon  the  seven  deacons,^  no 
inspired  writer  mentions  any  act  of  the  kind  in  which  the 
Twelve  ever  engaged.     The  deacons  were  not  rulers  in  the 

'  Acts  XV.  6,  xxi.  18. 

*  I  Pet.  V.  I ;  2  John,  ver.  i  ;  3  John,  ver.  i.  It  is  remarkable  that  Papias, 
orie  of  the  very  earliest  of  the  fathers,  actually  speaks  of  the  apostles  simply 
as  the  elders.     See  Euseb.,  book  iii.,  chap.  39. 

'  Thus,  Simon  Zelotes  is  said  to  have  travelled  into  Egypt  and  thence 
passed  into  Mesopotamia  and  Persia,  where  he  suffered  martyrdom  ;  whilst, 
according  to  others,  he  travelled  through  Egypt  to  Mauritania,  and  thence 
to  Britain,  where  he  was  crucified.  See  Cave's  "  Lives  of  the  Apostles," 
Life  of  Simon  the  Zealot.  No  weight  can  be  attached  to  such  legends. 
Origen  states  that  the  apostle  Thomas  labored  in  Parthia,  and  Andrew  in 
Scythia.     "  In  Genesim,"  Opera,  tom.  ii.,  p.  24. 

*  Acts  vi.  6. 


42  LITTLE   KNOWN    RESPECTLN'G   THE   APOSTLES. 

Church,  and  therefore  could  not  by  ordination  confer  eccle- 
siastical power  on  others. 

There  is  much  meaning  in  the  silence  of  the  sacred  writers 
respecting  the  official  proceedings  and  the  personal  career  of 
the  Twelve  and  the  Seventy.  It  thus  becomes  impossible  for 
any  one  to  make  out  a  title  to  the  ministry  by  tracing  his 
ecclesiastical  descent ;  for  no  contemporary  records  enable  us 
to  prove  a  connection  between  the  inspired  founders  of  our 
religion  and  those  who  were  subsequently  intrusted  with  the 
government  of  the  Church.  At  the  critical  point  where,  had 
it  been  deemed  necessary,  we  should  have  had  the  light  of 
inspiration,  we  are  left  to  wander  in  total  darkness.  We  are 
thus  shut  up  to  the  conclusion  that  the  claims  of  those  who 
profess  to  be  heralds  of  the  Gospel  are  to  be  tested  by  some 
other  criterion  than  their  ecclesiastical  lineage.  It  is  written, 
^^  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.'"  God  alone  can  make 
a  true  minister  ;^  and  he  who  attempts  to  establish  his  right 
to  feed  the  flock  of  Christ  by  appealing  to  his  oflficial  genealogy 
miserably  mistakes  the  source  of  his  pastoral  commission.  It 
would,  indeed,  avail  nothing,  though  a  minister  could  prove 
his  relationship  to  the  Twelve  or  the  Seventy  by  an  unbroken 
line  of  ordinations,  for  some  who  at  the  time  may  have  been 
able  to  deduce  their  descent  from  the  apostles  were  amongst 
the  most  dangerous  of  the  early  heretics.^  True  religion  is 
sustained,  not  by  any  human  agency,  but  by  that  Eternal 
Spirit  who  quickens  all  the  children  of  God,  and  who  has  pre- 
served for  them  a  pure  Gospel  in  the  writings  of  the  apostles 
and  evangelists.  The  perpetuity  of  the  Church  no  more  de- 
pends on  the  uninterrupted  succession  of  its  ministers  than 
does  the  perpetuity  of  a  nation  depend  on  the  continuance  of 
the  dynasty  which  may  happen  at  a  particular  date  to  occupy 
the  throne.  As  plants  possess  powers  of  reproduction  ena- 
bling them,  when  a  part  decays,  to  throw  it  off,  and  to  supply 

'  Matt.  vii.  i6.  »  Acts  xxvi.  i6  ;  Luke  x.  2  ;  i  Tim.  i.  12. 

'  Such  was  Valentine,  the  most  formidable  of  the  Gnostic  heresiarchs, 
said  to  -be  a  disciple  of  Theodas,  the  companion  of  Paul.  Clem.  Alex., 
Strom,  vii.  Paul  of  Samosata  and  Arius  were  able  to  boast,  at  least  as  much 
as  their  antagonists,  of  their  apostolic  descent. 


APOSTOLICAL   SUCCESSION.  43 

its  place  by  a  new  and  vigorous  vegetation,  so  it  is  with  the 
Church — the  spiritual  vine  which  the  Lord  has  planted.  Its 
government  may  degenerate  into  a  corrupt  tyranny  by  which 
its  most  precious  liberties  may  be  invaded  or  destroyed,  but 
the  freemen  of  the  Lord  are  not  bound  to  submit  to  any  such 
domination.  Were  even  all  the  ecclesiastical  rulers  to  become 
traitors  to  the  King  of  Zion,  the  Church  would  not  therefore 
perish.  The  living  members  of  the  body  of  Christ  should  then 
repudiate  the  authority  of  their  false  overseers,  and  choose 
among  themselves  faithful  men,  competent  to  teach  and  to 
guide  the  spiritual  community.^  The  Divine  Statute-book 
clearly  warrants  the  adoption  of  such  an  alternative.  "  Be- 
loved," says  the  apostle  John,  "  believe  not  every  spirit,  but 

try  the  spirits  whether  they  are  of  God We  are  of 

God,  he  that  knoweth  God  heareth  us ;  he  that  is  not  of  God 
heareth  not  us.  Hereby  know  we  the  spirit  of  truth  and  the 
spirit  of  error."  '  "  If  there  come  any  unto  you,  and  bring  not 
•this  doctrine,  receive  him  not  into  your  house,  neither  bid 
him  God-speed  ;  for  he  that  biddeth  him  God-speed  is  partaker 
of  his  evil  deeds.""  Paul  declares  still  more  emphatically, 
*'  Though  WE,  or  AN  ANGEL  FROM  HEAVEN,  preach  any  other 
gospel  unto  you  than  that  which  we  have  preached  unto  you, 
let  him  be  accursed.  As  we  said  before,  so  say  I  now  again,  If 
atiy  man  preach  any  other  gospel  unto  you  than  that  ye  have 
received,  let  him  be  accursed^  ^ 

In  one  sense  neither  the  Twelve  nor  the  Seventy  had  suc- 
cessors. All  of  them  were  called  to  preach  the  Gospel  by  the 
living  voice  of  Christ  himself ;  all  had  "  companied "  with 
Him  during  the  period  of  His  ministry  ;  all  had  listened  to 
His  sermons  ;  all  had  been  spectators  of  His  works  of  won- 
der ;  all  were  empowered  to  perform  miracles ;  all  seem  to 
have  conversed  with  Him  after  His  resurrection  ;  and  all  ap- 
pear to  have  possessed  the  gift  of  inspired  utterance.*  But 
in  another  sense  every  "  good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  "  is  a 
successor  of  these  primitive  preachers ;  for  every  true  pastor 
is  taught  of  God,  and  is  moved  by  the  Spirit  to  undertake  the 

'  I  John  iv.  I,  6.  "2  John  x.  11. 

*  Gal.  i.  8,  9.  *  Luke  x.  16. 


44  SIGNS   OF  A  DIVINE  COMMISSION. 

service  in  which  he  is  engaged,  and  is  warranted  to  expect 
a  blessing  on  the  truth  which  he  disseminates.  As  of  old  the 
descent  from  heaven  of  fire  on  the  altar  testified  the  Divine 
acceptance  of  the  sacrifices,  so  now  the  descent  of  the  Spirit, 
as  manifested  in  the  conversion  of  souls  to  God,  is  a  sure 
token  that  the  labors  of  the  minister  have  the  seal  of  the 
Divine  approbation.  The  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  did 
not  hesitate  to  rely  on  such  a  proof  of  his  commission  from 
heaven.  "  Need  we,"  says  he  to  the  Corinthians,  "  epistles  of 
commendation  to  you,  or  letters  of  commendation  from  you  ? 
Ye  are  our  epistle  written  in^  our  hearts,  known  and  read  of 
all  men ;  forasmuch  as  ye  are  manifestly  declared  to  be  the 
epistle  of  Christ  ministered  by  us,  written,  not  with  ink,  but 
with  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God,  not  in  tables  of  stone,  but 
in  the  fleshy  tables  of  the  heart." '  No  true  pastor  will  be 
left  entirely  destitute  of  such  encouragement,  and  neither  the 
Twelve  nor  the  Seventy  could  produce  credentials  more  trust- 
worthy or  more  intelligible. 

'  2  Cor.  iii.  1-3. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  GOSPEL  FROM  THE  DEATH   OF  CHRIST 

TO   THE   DEATH   OF  THE  APOSTLE   JAMES, 

THE   BROTHER   OF  JOHN. 

A.D    31    TO   A.D.    44. 

When  our  Lord  bowed  His  head  on  the  cross  and  "  gave 
up  the  ghost,i'  the  work  of  atonement  was  complete.  The 
ceremonial  law  virtually  expired  when  He  explained,  by  His 
death,  its  awful  significance  ;  and  the  crisis  of  His  passion 
was  the  birthday  of  the  Christian  economy.  At  this  date 
the  history  of  the  New  Testament  Church  properly  com- 
mences. 

After  His  resurrection  Jesus  remained  forty  days  on  earth,^ 
and,  during  this  interval.  He  often  took  occasion  to  point  out 
to  His  disciples  the  meaning  of  His  wonderful  career.  He 
said  to  them,  "  Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it  behoved  Christ 
to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day,  and  that  re- 
pentance and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his 
name  among  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jeriisalenty '  The  in- 
spired narratives  of  the  teaching  and  miracles  of  our  Lord  are 
emphatically  corroborated  by  the  fact,  that  a  large  Christian 
Church  was  established,  almost  immediately  after  His  de- 
cease, in  the  metropolis  of  Palestine.  The  Sanhedrim  and 
the  Roman  governor  had  concurred  in  His  condemnation ; 
and,  on  the  night  of  His  trial,  even  the  intrepid  Peter  had 
been  so  intimidated  that  he  had  been  tempted  to  curse  and  to 
swear  as  he  averred  that  he  knew  not  "  The  Man."  It  might 
have  been  expected  that  the  death  of  Jesus  would  be  followed 

'  Acts  i.  3.  '  Luke  xxiv.  46,  47. 

(45) 


46  THE   COMMUNITY   OF   GOODS. 

by  a  reign  of  terror,  and  that  no  attempt  Avould  be  made,  at 
least  in  the  place  where  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities 
resided,  to  assert  the  Divine  mission  of  Him  whom  they  had 
crucified  as  a  malefactor.  But  perfect  love  casteth  out  fear. 
In  the  very  city  where  He  suffered,  and  a  few  days  after  His 
passion,  His  disciples  ventured  in  the  most  public  manner  to 
declare  His  innocence  and  to  proclaim  Him  as  the  Messiah. 
The  result  of  their  appeal  was  as  wonderful  as  its  boldness. 
Though  the  imminent  peril  of  confessing  Christ  was  well 
known,  such  was  the  strength  of  their  convictions  that  multi- 
tudes resolved,  at  all  hazards,  to  enroll  themselves  among  His 
followers.  The  success  which  accompanied  the  preaching  of 
the  apostolic  missionaries  at  the  feast  of  Pentecost  was  a  sign 
and  a  pledge  of  their  future  triumphs,  for  "  the  same  day 
there  were  added  unto  them  about  three  thousand  souls." ' 

The  disinterested  behavior  of  the  converts  betokened  their 
intense  earnestness.  "All  that  believed  were  together  and 
had  all  things  common,  and  sold  their  possessions  and  goods 
and  parted  them  to  all  men,  as  every  man  had  need." ' 
These  early  disciples  were  not,  indeed,  required,  as  a  term  of 
communion,  to  deposit  their  property  in  a  common  stock- 
purse  ;  but,  in  the  overflowings  of  their  first  love,  they  spon- 
taneously adopted  the  arrangement.  On  the  part  of  the  more 
opulent  members  of  the  community  residing  in  a  place  which 
was  the  stronghold  of  Jewish  prejudice  and  influence,  this 
course  was  as  prudent  as  it  was  generous.  By  joining  a  pro- 
scribed sect  they  put  their  lives,  as  well  as  their  wealth,  into 
jeopardy ;  but,  by  the  sale  of  their  effects,  they  displayed  a 
spirit  of  self-sacrifice  which  astonished  and  confounded  their 
adversaries.  They  thus  anticipated  all  attempts  at  spoliation, 
and  gave  a  proof  of  their  readiness  to  submit  to  any  suffering 
for  the  cause  they  had  espoused.  An  inheritance,  when 
turned  into  money,  was  not  easily  sequestered  ;  and  those 
who  were  in  want  could  obtain  assistance  out  of  the  secreted 
treasure.  Still,  even  at  this  period,  the  principle  of  a  com- 
munity  of  goods   was  not   carried   out   into  universal   opera- 

'  Acts  ii.  41.  '  Acts  ii.  44,  45. 


THE   COMMUNITY   OF   GOODS.  47 

tion  ;  for  the  foreign  Jews  converted  to  the  faith,  and  "  pos- 
sessors of  lands  or  houses  "  '  in  distant  countries,  could  neither 
have  found  purchasers,  nor  negotiated  transfers,  in  the  holy 
city.  The  first  sales  were  obviously  confined  to  those  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  who  were  owners  of  property  in  Jerusalem 
and  its  neighborhood. 

The  system  of  having  all  things  common,  suggested  in  a  crisis 
of  extreme  peril,  was  only  a  temporary  expedient ;  and  it  was 
soon  given  up  altogether,  as  unsuited  to  the  ordinary  circum- 
stances of  the  Christian  Church.  But  though,  in  a  short  time, 
the  disciples  in  general  were  left  to  depend  on  their  own  re- 
sources, the  community  continued  to  provide  a  fund  for  the 
help  of  the  infirm  and  the  destitute.  At  an  early  period  com- 
plaints were  made  respecting  the  distribution  of  this  charity ; 
and  "there  arose  a  murmuring  of  the  Grecians  against  the  He- 
brews because  their  widows  were  neglected  in  the  daily  minis- 
tration."' The  Grecians,  or  those  converts  from  Judaism  who 
used  the  Greek  language,  were  generally  of  foreign  birth  ;  and 
as  the  Hebrews,  or  the  brethren  who  spoke  the  vernacular 
tongue  of  Palestine,  were  natives  of  the  country,  there  were 
suspicions  that  local  influence  secured  for  their  poor  an  undue 
share  of  the  public  bounty.  The  expedient  employed  for  the 
removal  of  this  "  root  of  bitterness"  seems  to  have  been  com- 
pletely successful.  "  The  twelve  called  the  multitude  of  the 
disciples  unto  them  and  said,  It  is  not  reason  that  we  should 
leave  the  word  of  God  and  serve  tables.  Wherefore,  brethren, 
look  ye  out  among  you  seven  men  of  honest  report,  full  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  wisdom,  whom  we  may  appoint  over  this 
business." ' 

Had  the  apostles  been  anxious  for  power  they  would  them- 
selves have  nominated  the  deacons.  They  could  have  urged, 
too,  a  very  plausible  apology  for  venturing  upon  such  an  exer- 
cise of  patronage.  They  might  have  pleaded  that  the  disciples 
were  dissatisfied  with  each  other — that  the  excitement  of  a 

'  See  Acts  iv.  34.  Barnabas  was  probably  obliged  to  go  to  Cyprus  to  com- 
plete the  sale. 

'Acts  vi.  I.  ^  Acts  vi.  2,  3. 


48  THE   SEVEN   DEACONS. 

popular  election  was  fitted  to  increase  this  feeling  of  alienation 
— and  that,  under  these  circumstences,  prudence  required  them 
to  take  upon  themselves  the  responsibility  of  the  appointment. 
But  they  were  guided  by  a  higher  wisdom  ;  and  their  conduct 
is  a  model  for  the  imitation  of  ecclesiastical  rulers  in  all  suc- 
ceeding generations.  It  was  the  will  of  the  Great  Lawgiver 
that  His  Church  should  possess  a  free  constitution ;  and 
accordingly,  at  the  very  outset,  its  members  were  intrusted 
with  the  privilege  of  self-government.  The  community  had 
already  been  invited  to  choose  an  apostle  in  the  room  of  Judas,* 
and  they  were  now  required  to  name  ofifice-bearers  for  the 
management  of  their  money  transactions.  But,  whilst  the 
Twelve  appealed  to  the  suffrages  of  the  Brotherhood,  they  re- 
served to  themselves  the  right  of  confirming  the  election  ;  and 
they  could,  by  withholding  ordination,  have  refused  to  fiat  an 
improper  appointment.  Happily  no  such  difficulty  occurred. 
In  compliance  with  the  instructions  addressed  to  them,  the 
multitude  chose  seven  of  their  number  "  whom  they  set  before 
the  apostles ;  and,  when  they  had  prayed,  they  laid  their  hands 
on  them."* 

Prior  to  the  election  of  the  deacons,  Peter  and  John  had 
been  incarcerated.  The  Sanhedrim  wished  to  extort  from  them 
a  pledge  that  they  would  '*  not  speak  at  all  nor  teach  in  the 
name  of  Jesus,"  ^  but  the  prisoners  nobly  refused  to  consent  to 
any  such  compromise.  They  "  answered  and  said  unto  them, 
Whether  it  would  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God  to  hearken 
unto  you  more  than  unto  God,  judge  ye."  *  The  apostles 
here  disclaimed  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience,  and  asserted 
principles  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  the  true  theory  of  re- 
ligious freedom.  They  maintained  that  "  God  alone  is  Lord 
of  the  conscience" — that  His  command  overrides  all  human 
regulations — and  that,  no  matter  what  may  be  the  penalties 
which  earthly  rulers  annex  to  the  breach  of  the  enactments  of 
their  statute-book,  the  Christian  is  not  bound  to  obey,  when 
the  civil  law  requires  him  to  violate  his  enlightened  convic- 

'  Acis  i.  15,  23.  They  selected  two,  and  not  knowing  which  to  prefer, 
they  decided  by  lot. 

^  Acts  vi.  6.  *  Acts  iv.  18.  *  Acts  iv,  19. 


THE   MARTYRDOM   OF   STEPHEN.  49 

tlons.  But  the  Sanhedrim  despised  such  considerations.  For 
a  time  they  were  obHged  to  remain  quiescent,  as  public  feeling 
ran  strongly  in  favor  of  the  new  preachers  ;  but,  soon  after  the 
election  of  the  deacons,  they  resumed  the  work  of  persecution. 
The  tide  of  popularity  now  began  to  turn ;  and  Stephen,  one 
of  the  Seven,  particularly  distinguished  by  his  zeal,  fell  a  vic- 
tim to  their  intolerance. 

The  martyrdom  of  Stephen  occurred  about  three  years  and 
a  half  after  the  death  of  our  Lord.'  Daniel  had  foretold  that 
the  Messiah  should  "confirm  the  covenant  with  many /or  one 
weck'"^ — an  announcement  which  has  been  understood  to  in- 
dicate that,  at  the  time  of  his  manifestation,  the  Gospel  should 
be  preached  with  much  success  among  his  countrymen  for  seven 
years — and  if  the  prophetic  week  commenced  with  the  ministry 
of  John  the  Baptist,  it  probably  terminated  with  this  bloody 
tragedy.'  The  Christian  cause  had  hitherto  prospered  in  Jeru- 
salem ;  and,  meanwhile,  it  had  also  made  considerable  progress 
throughout  all  Palestine  ;  but  at  this  date  it  is  suddenly  arrested 
in  its  career  of  advancement.  The  Jewish  multitude  begin  to 
regard  it  with  aversion ;  and  the  Roman  governor  discovers 
that  he  may,  at  any  time,  obtain  the  tribute  of  their  applause 
by  oppressing  its  ablest  and  most  fearless  advocates. 

After  His  resurrection  our  Lord  commanded  the  apostles  to 

'That  is,  A.D.  34,  dating  the  crucifixion  A.D.  31.  Tillemont,  but  on  en- 
tirely different  grounds,  assigns  the  same  date  to  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen. 
See  "  Memoires  pour  servir  k  L'Histoire  Ecclesiastique  des  Six  Premiers 
Siecles,"  tome  prem.  sec.  par.  p.  420.  Stephen's  martyrdom  probably  oc- 
curred about  the  feast  of  Tabernacles. 

''Daniel  ix.  27.  A  day  in  prophetic  language  denotes  a. year.  Ezek.  iv. 
4,  5.   A  prophetic  week,  or  seven  days,  is,  therefore,  equivalent  to  seven  years. 

" "  The  one  week,  or  Passion-week,  in  the  midst  of  which  our  Lord  was 
crucified,  A.D.  31,  began  with  His  pubHc  ministry,  A.D.  28,  and  ended  with 
the  martyrdom  of  Stephen,  A.D.  34." — Hales  Ckronohs^y,  ii.  p.  518.  Faber 
and  others,  who  hold  that  the  one  week  terminated  with  the  crucifixion,  are 
obliged  to  adopt  the  untenable  hypothesis  that  John  the  Baptist  and  our 
Lord  together  preached  seven  years.  The  view  here  taken  is  corroborated  by 
the  statement  in  Dan.  ix.  27  :  "  In  the  midst  of  the  week  he  shall  cause  the 
sacrifice  and  the  oblation  to  cease,"  as  Christ  by  one  sacrifice  of  Himself 
"  perfected  forever  them  that  are  sanctified." 

4 


50  THE   GOSPEL   IN   SAMARIA. 

go  and  "teach  all  nations,'' '  and  yet  years  rolled  away  before 
they  turned  their  thoughts  toward  the  evangelization  of  the 
Gentiles.  The  Jewish  mind  was  slow  to  apprehend  such  an 
idea,  for  the  posterity  of  Abraham  had  been  long  accustomed 
to  regard  themselves  as  the  exclusive  heirs  of  divine  privi- 
leges ;  but  the  remarkable  development  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
gradually  led  them  to  entertain  more  enlarged  and  more  lib- 
eral sentiments.  The  progress  of  the  Gospel  in  Samaria  im- 
mediately  after  the  death  of  Stephen,  demonstrated  that  the 
blessings  of  the  new  dispensation  were  not  to  be  confined  to 
God's  ancient  people.  Though  many  of  the  Samaritans  ac- 
knowledged the  divine  authority  of  the  writings  of  Moses,  they 
did  not  belong  to  the  Church  of  Israel ;  and  between  them  and 
the  Jews  a  bitter  antipathy  had  hitherto  existed.  When  Philip 
appeared  among  them,  and  preached  Jesus  as  the  promised 
Messiah,  they  listened  most  attentively  to  his  appeals,  and  not 
a  few  of  them  gladly  received  Christian  baptism."  It  could 
now  no  longer  be  said  that  the  Jews  had  "  no  dealings  with  the 
Samaritans," '  for  the  Gospel  gathered  both  into  the  fold  of  a 
common  Saviour,  and  taught  them  to  keep  "the  unity  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace." 

When  the  disciples  were  scattered  abroad  by  tlie  persecution 
which  arose  after  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen,  the  apostles 
still  kept  their  post  in  the  Jewish  capital;'  for  Christ  had 
instructed  them  to  begin  their  ministiy  in  that  place :  '  and 
they  perhaps  conceived  that,  until  authorized  by  some  farther 
intimation,  they  were  bound  to  remain  at  Jerusalem.  But  the 
conversion  of  the  Samaritans  reminded  them  that  the  sphere 
of  their  labors  was  more  extensive.  Our  Lord  had  said  to 
them,  "Ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  both  in  Jerusalem,  and 
in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the 
earth,'' '  and  events  which  were  passing  before  their  view  were 
continually  throwing  additional  light  on  the  meaning  of  this 
announcement.  The  baptism  of  the  Ethiopian  eunuch,'  about 
this  period,  was  calculated  to  enlarge  their  ideas ;    and    the 

'  Matt,  xxviii.  19.  "  Acts  viii.  6,  12.  'John  iv.  9. 

*  Acts  viii.  I.  '  Luke  xxiv.  47;  Acts  i.  4. 

'  Acts  i.  8.  '  Acts  viii.  27-38. 


THE   EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   GENTILES.  5 1 

baptism  of  Cornelius  pointed  out,  still  more  distinctly,  the  wide 
range  of  their  evangelical  commission.  The  minuteness  with 
which  the  case  of  the  devout  centurion  is  described  is  a  proof 
of  its  importance  as  connected  with  this  transition-stage  in  the 
history  of  the  Church.  He  had  before  known  nothing  of  Peter ; 
and,  when  they  met  at  Caesarea,  each  could  testify  that  he  had 
been  prepared  for  the  interview  by  a  special  revelation  from 
heaven.'  Cornelius  was  "  a  centurion  of  the  band  called  the 
Italian  band "  "^ — he  was  a  representative  of  that  military 
power  which  then  ruled  the  world — and,  in  his  baptism,  we 
see  the  Roman  empire  presenting,  on  the  altar  of  Christianity, 
the  first-fruits  of  the  Gentiles. 

It  was  not,  however,  very  obvious,  from  any  of  the  cases 
already  enumerated,  that  the  salvation  of  Christ  was  designed 
for  all  classes  and  conditions  of  the  human  family.  The  Samar- 
itans did  not,  indeed,  worship  at  Jerusalem,  but  they  claimed 
some  interest  in  "  the  promises  made  unto  the  fathers  ";  and 
they  conformed  to  many  of  the  rites  of  Judaism.  It  does  not 
appear  that  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  was  of  the  seed  of  Abraham  ; 
but  he  acknowledged  the  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  he  was  disposed,  at  least  to  a  certain  extent,  to  observe 
its  institutions.  Even  the  Roman  centurion  was  what  has 
been  called  a  proselyte  of  the  gate,  that  is,  he  professed  the 
Jewish  theology  —  "he  feared  God  with  all  his  house,"' 
though  he  had  not  received  circumcision,  and  had  not 
been  admitted  into  the  congregation  of  Israel.  But  the 
time  was  approaching  when  the  Church  was  to  burst  forth  be- 
yond the  barriers  within  which  it  had  been  hitherto  enclosed  ; 
and  an  individual  now  appeared  upon  the  scene  who  was  to 
be  the  leader  of  this  new  movement.  He  is  "a  citizen  of  no 
mean  city,"  * — a  native  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia,  a  place  famous  for 
its  educational  institutes' — and  he  is  known,  by  way  of  dis- 
tinction, as  "  an  apostle  of  the  nations!''  ^ 

The  apostles  were  at  first  sent  only  to  their  own  country- 
men ;  ^  and  for  some  time  after  our  Lord's  death,  they  did  not 

'  Acts  X.  19,  30,  32.  "^  Acts  X.  I. 

'  Acts  X.  2.  *  Acts  xxi.  39.  *  Strabo,  xiv.  p.  673. 

*  Rom.  xi.  13  ;  i  Tim.  ii.  7  ;  2  Tim.  i.  1 1.  '  Matt.  x.  5,  6. 


52  THE   APOSTLE   OF   THE   GENTILES. 

contemplate  any  more  comprehensive  mission.  When  Peter 
called  on  the  disciples  to  appoint  a  successor  to  Judas,  he 
acted  under  the  conviction  that  the  company  of  the  Twelve 
was  to  be  maintained  in  its  integrity,  and  that  it  must  still 
exactly  represent  the  number  of  the  tribes  of  Israel.  But  the 
Jews,  after  the  death  of  Stephen,  evinced  an  increasing  aver- 
sion to  the  Gospel ;  and  as  the  apostles  were  eventually  induced 
to  direct  their  views  elsewhere,  they  were  also  led  to  abandon 
an  arrangement  which  had  a  special  reference  to  the  sectional 
divisions  of  the  chosen  people.  Meanwhile,  too,  the  manage- 
ment of  ecclesiastical  affairs  had  partially  fallen  into  other 
hands ;  new  missions,  in  which  the  Twelve  had  no  share,  had 
been  undertaken  ;  and  Paul  henceforth  becomes  most  conspic- 
uous and  successful  in  extending  and  organizing  the  Church. 

Paul  describes  himself  as  "  one  born  out  of  due  time." ' 
He  was  converted  to  Christianity  when  his  countrymen 
seemed  about  to  be  consigned  to  judicial  blindness ;  and  he 
was  "  called  to  be  an  apostle  "  *  when  others  had  been  labor- 
ing for  years  in  the  same  vocation.  But  he  possessed  pecul- 
iar qualifications  for  the  office.  He  was  ardent,  energetic, 
and  conscientious,  as  well  as  acute  and  eloquent.  In  his 
native  city.  Tarsus,  he  had  received  a  good  elementary  educa- 
tion ;  and  afterward,  "  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,"  '  in  Jerusalem, 
he  enjoyed  the  tuition  of  a  Rabbi  of  unrivalled  celebrity. 
The  apostles  of  the  Gentiles  had  much  the  same  religious  ex- 
perience as  the  father  of  the  German  Reformation  ;  for  as 
Luther,  before  he  understood  the  doctrine  of  a  free  salvation, 
attempted  to  earn  a  title  to  heaven  by  the  austerities  of  mo- 
nastic discipline,  so  Paul  in  early  life  was  "  taught  according 
to  the  perfect  manner  of  the  law  of  the  fathers,"  *  and  "  after 
the  strictest  sect  of  his  religion  lived  a  Pharisee."  '  His  zeal 
led  him  to  become  a  persecutor;  and  when  Stephen  was 
stoned,  the  witnesses  required  to  take  part  in  the  execution 
prepared  themselves  for  the  work  of  death  by  laying  down 
their  upper  garments  at  the  feet  of  the  "  young  man  "  Saul. 

'  I  Cor.  XV.  8.  '  Rom.  i.  i.  '  Acts  xxii.  3. 

*  Acts  xxii.  3.  "  Acts  xxvi.  5.  *  Acts  vii.  58. 


PAUL.  53 

He  had  established  himself  in  the  confidence  of  the  Sanhedrim, 
and  he  may  have  been  a  member  of  that  influential  judicatory, 
for  he  tells  us  that  he  "  shut  up  many  of  the  saints  in  prison," 
and  that,  when  they  were  put  to  death,  "  he  gave  his  voice, 
or  his  vote,"^  against  them  " — a  statement  implying  that  he 
belonged  to  the  court  which  pronounced  the  sentence  of  con- 
demnation. As  he  was  travelling  to  Damascus  armed  with 
authority  to  seize  any  of  the  disciples  whom  he  discovered  in 
that  city,  and  to  convey  them  bound  to  Jerusalem, °  the  Lord 
appeared  to  him  in  the  way,  and  he  was  suddenly  converted.' 
After  reaching  the  end  of  his  journey,  and  boldly  proclaiming 
his  attachment  to  the  party  he  had  been  so  recently  endeavor- 
ing to  exterminate,  he  retired  into  Arabia,^  where  he  proba- 
bly spent  three  years  in  the  devout  study  of  the  Christian 
theology.  He  then  returned  to  Damascus,  and  entered,  about 
A.D.  37,'  on  those  missionary  labors,  which  he  prosecuted  with 
so  much  efficiency  and  perseverance  for  upwards  of  a  quarter 
of  a  century. 

Paul  declares  that  he  derived  a  knowledge  of  the  Gospel 
immediately  from  Christ ;  "  and  though  for  many  years  he  had 
very  little  intercourse  with  the  Twelve,  he  avers  that  he  was 
"  not  a  whit  behind  the  very  chiefest  apostles."  '   Throughout 

^  Acts  xxvi.  lo.  ^ii(^ov.  See  Alford  on  Acts  xxvi.  lo,  and  Acts  viii.  i. 
See  also  "  The  Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,"  by  Conybeare  and  Hovvson, 
i.  85.  Edit.,  London,  1852.  Paul  says  that  "  all  the  Jews  "  knew  his  man- 
ner o{X\{&  frojn  his  youth — a  declaration  which  implies  that  he  was  a  per- 
son of  note.  See  Acts  xxvi.  4.  There  is  a  tradition  that  he  aspired  to  be 
the  son-in-law  of  the  high-priest.  Epiphanius,  "Ad  Haer,"  i,  2,  §  16  and 
§25. 

*  Acts  ix.  2,  and  xxii.  5.  '  Acts  ix.  3-21.  *  Gal.  i.  17,  18. 

^  This  date  may  be  established  thus : — Stephen,  as  has  been  shown,  was 
martyred  A.D.  34.  See  note,  p.  49  of  this  chapter.  Paul  was  converted 
in  the  same  year,  and  therefore,  if  he  returned  to  Damascus  three  years 
afterward,  he  was  in  that  city  in  A.D.  37.  It  would  appear,  from  another 
source  of  evidence,  that  this  is  the  true  date.  The  Emperor  Tiberius  died 
A.D.  37,  and  Aretas  immediately  afterward  obtained  possession  of  Damas- 
cus. He  was  in  possession  of  it  when  Paul  was  there.  See  2  Cor.  xi.  32, 
33.  It  is  probable  that  he  remained  master  of  the  place  only  a  very  short 
time. 

°  Gal.  i.  12.  ^  2  Cor.  xi.  5. 


54  PAUL. 

life  he  was  associated,  not  with  them,  but  with  others  as  his 
fellow-laborers  ;  and  he  obviously  occupied  a  distinct  and  in- 
dependent position.  When  he  was  baptized,  the  ordinance 
was  administered  by  an  individual  who  is  not  previously  men- 
tioned in  the  New  Testament/  and  when  he  was  separated 
to  the  work  to  which  the  Lord  had  called  him,"  the  ordainers 
were  "  prophets  and  teachers,"  respecting  whose  own  call  to 
the  ministry  the  inspired  historian  supplies  us  with  no  infor- 
mation. But  they  had,  no  doubt,  been  regularly  introduced 
into  the  places  which  they  are  represented  as  occupying  ;  they 
are  all  described  by  the  evangelist  as  receiving  the  same  spec- 
ial instructions  from  heaven ;  and  the  tradition  that,  at  least 
some  of  them,  were  of  the  number  of  the  Seventy,'  is  exceed- 
ingly probable.  And  if,  as  has  already  been  suggested,  the 
mission  of  the  Seventy  indicated  the  design  of  our  Saviour  to 
diffuse  the  Gospel  all  over  the  world,  we  can  see  a  peculiar 
propriety  in  the  arrangement  that  Paul  was  ushered  into  the 
Church  under  the  auspices  of  these  ministers,"  It  was  most 
fitting  that  he  who  was  to  be,  by  way  of  eminence,  the  apos- 
tle of  the  Gentiles,  should  be  baptized  and  ordained  by  men 
whose  own  appointment  was  intended  to  symbolize  the  catho- 
lic spirit  of  Christianity. 

In  the  treatment  of  Paul  by  his  unbelieving  countrymen 
we  have  a  most  melancholy  illustration  of  the  recklessness  of 
religious  bigotry.  These  Jews  knew  that,  in  as  far  as  secular 
considerations  were  concerned,  he  had  everything  to  lose  by 
turning  into  "  the  way  which  they  called  heresy  ";  they  were 
bound  to  acknowledge  that,  by  connecting  himself  with  an 
odious  sect,  he  at  least  demonstrated  his  sincerity  and  self- 

'  Acts  ix.  17.  1 8.  "  Actsxiii.  i,  2. 

'  Simeon  or  Niger,  according  to  Epiphanius,  was  one  of  the  Seventy. 
"  Hasres,"  20,  sec.  4.  Luke,  the  writer  of  the  Book  of  the  Acts,  is  said  to 
have  been  one  of  the  Seventy,  and  the  same  as  Lucius  of  Cyrene,  mentioned 
Acts  xiii.  I. 

*  Ananias,  by  whom  he  was  baptized,  was,  according  to  the  Greek  mar- 
tyrologies,  one  of  the  Seventy.  See  Burton's  "  Lectures,"  i.  88,  note.  It  is 
evident  that  Ananias  was  a  person  of  note  among  the  Christians  of  Damas- 
cus. 


PAUL.  55 

denial ;  but  they  were  so  exasperated  by  his  zeal  that  they 
"  took  counsel  to  kill  him."  '  When,  after  his  sojourn  in  Ara- 
bia, he  returned  to  Damascus,  that  city  was  in  the  hands  of 
Aretas,  the  king  of  Arabia  Petraea ; "  who  contrived  to  gain 
possession  of  it  during  the  confusion  which  immediately  fol- 
lowed the  death  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius.  This  petty  sover- 
eign courted  the  favor  of  the  Jewish  portion  of  the  popula- 
tion by  permitting  them  to  persecute  the  disciples  ;  ^  and  the 
apostle,  at  this  crisis,  would  have  fallen  a  victim  to  their  ma- 
lignity had  not  his  friends  let  him  down  "  through  a  window, 
in  a  basket,  by  the  wall,"  *  and  thus  enabled  him  to  escape  a 
premature  martyrdom.  He  now  repaired  to  Jerusalem,  where 
the  brethren  had  not  heard  of  his  conversion,  and  where  they 
at  first  refused  to  acknowledge  him  as  a  member  of  their 
society ; "  for  he  had  been  obliged  to  leave  Damascus  with  so 
much  precipitation  that  he  had  brought  with  him  no  commen- 
datory letters ;  but  Barnabas,  who  is  said  to  have  been  his 
school-fellow,"  and  who  had  in  some  way  obtained  informa- 
tion respecting  his  subsequent  career,  made  the  leaders  of  the 
Mother  Church  acquainted  with  the  wonderful  change  which 
had  taken  place  in  his  sentiments  and  character,  and  induced 
them  to  admit  him  to  fellowship.  During  this  visit  to  the 
holy  city,  while  he  prayed  in  the  temple,  he  was  more  fully 
instructed  respecting  his  future  destination.  In  a  trance,  he 
saw  Jesus,  who  said  to  him,  "  Depart :  for  I  will  send  theie 
far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles."  '  Even  had  he  not  received  this 
intimation,  the  murderous  hostility  of  the  Jews  would  have 
obliged  him  to  retire.  ''When  he  spake  boldly  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  disputed  against  the  Grecians,  they 
went  about  to  slay  him.  Which,  when  the  brethren  knew, 
they  brought  him  down  to  Caesarea,  and  sent  him  forth  to 
Tarsus."  ® 

'  Acts  ix,  23,  *  See  Josephus'  "  Antiquities,"  xviii.  5. 

*  See  Burton's  "  Lectures,"  i.  116,  117. 

*  2  Cor.  xi.  32,  33,  ^  Acts  ix.  26,  27. 

^  This  statement  rests  on  the  authority  of  a  monk  of  Cyprus,  named 
Alexander,  a  comparatively  late  writer.  See  Burton's  "  Lectures,"  i.  56, 
note.  ''  Acts  xxii.  21.  *  Acts  ix.  29,  30. 


56  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH. 

The  apostle  now  labored  for  some  years  as  a  missionary  in 
"  the  regions  of  Syria  and  Cilicia."  '  His  native  city  and 
its  neighborhood  probably  enjoyed  a  large  share  of  his  minis- 
trations, and  his  exertions  seem  to  have  been  attended  with 
much  success,  for,  soon  afterward,  the  converts  in  these  dis- 
tricts attract  particular  notice.*  Meanwhile  the  Gospel  was 
making  rapid  progress  in  the  Syrian  capital,  and  as  Saul  was 
considered  eminently  qualified  for  conducting  the  mission  in 
that  place,  he  was  induced  to  proceed  thither.  "  Then,"  says 
the  sacred  historian,  "  Barnabas  departed  to  Tarsus  to  seek 
Saul,  and  when  he  had  found  him  he  brought  him  unto  Anti- 
och.  And  it  came  to  pass  that  a  whole  year  they  assembled 
themselves  with  the  Church,  and  taught  much  people ;  and 
the  disciples  were  called  Christians  first  in  Antioch." ' 

The  establishment  of  a  Church  in  this  city  formed  a  new 
era  in  the  development  of  Christianity.  Antioch  was  a  great 
commercial  mart,  with  a  large  Jewish  as  well  as  Gentile  popu- 
lation. It  was  virtually  the  capital  of  the  Roman  empire  in 
the.  East ;  being  the  residence  of  the  president  or  governor  of 
Syria.  Its  climate  was  delightful,  and  its  citizens,  enriched  by 
trade,  were  noted  for  their  gayety  and  voluptuousness.  In 
this  flourishing  metropolis  many  proselytes  from  heathenism 
were  to  be  found  in  the  synagogues  of  the  Greek-speaking 
Jews,  and  the  Gospel  soon  made  rapid  progress  among  these 
Hellenists.  "  Some  of  them  (which  were  scattered  abroad 
upon  the  persecution  that  arose  about  Stephen)  were  men  of 
Cyprus  and  Cyrene,  which,  when  they  were  come  to  Antioch, 
spake  unto   the  Grecians,*  preaching  the  Lord  Jesus.     And 

'  Gal.  i.  21.  '  Acts  XV.  23,  41.  '  Acts  xi.  25,  26. 

*  Griesbach,  Lachmann,  Alford,  and  other  critics  of  great  note,  here  pre- 
fer "E'A>f]vac  to  'lO'/f/viuTi'ic,  but  the  common  reading  is  quite  as  well  sup- 
ported by  the  authority  of  manuscripts,  and  more  in  accordance  with  Acts 
xiv.  27,  where  Paul  and  Barnabas  are  represented  long  afterward  as  declar- 
ing to  the  Church  of  Antioch  how  God  "  had  opened  the  door  of  faith  i/n/a 
the  Gentiles."  See  an  excellent  vindication  of  the  icxtiis  receptus  in  the 
Journal  of  Sacred  Literature  for  January,  1857,  No.  viii.,  p.  285,  by  the 
Rev.  W.  Kay,  M.A.,  Principal  of  Bi'shop's  College.  Calcutta.  See,  oh  the 
other  side,  Alford's  Greek  Test.,  vol.  ii.,  Prolog.  29-31,  late  edition. 


THE   BRETHREN,  WHY   CALLED   CHRISTIANS.  5/ 

the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  with  them,  and  a  great  number  be- 
lieved and  turned  unto  the  Lord." '  The  followers  of  Jesus 
at  this  time  received  a  new  designation.  They  had  hitherto 
called  themselves  "brethren"  or  "disciples"  or  "believers," 
but  now  they  "  were  called  Christians  "  by  some  of  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  Syrian  capital.  As  the  unconverted  Jews  did 
not  admit  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ,  they  were  obviously  not 
the  authors  of  this  appellation,  and,  in  contempt,  they  prob- 
ably styled  the  party  Nazarenes  or  Galileans ;  but  it  is  easy  to 
understand  how  the  name  was  suggested  to  the  pagans  as 
most  descriptive  and  appropriate.  No  one  could  be  long  in 
company  with  the  new  religionists  without  perceiving  that 
Christ  was  "  the  end  of  their  conversation."  They  delighted 
to  tell  of  His  mighty  miracles,  of  His  holy  life,  of  the  extraor- 
dinary circumstances  which  accompanied  His  death,  and  of 
His  resurrection  and  ascension.  Out  of  the  fulness  of  their 
hearts  they  discoursed  of  His  condescension  and  His  meek- 
ness, of  His  wonderful  wisdom,  of  His  sublime  theology,  and 
of  His  unutterable  love  to  a  world  lying  in  wickedness.  When 
they  prayed,  they  prayed  to  Christ ;  when  they  sang,  they  sang 
praise  to  Christ ;  when  they  preached,  they  preached  Christ. 
Well  then  might  the  heathen  multitude  agree  with  one  voice 
to  call  them  Christians.  The  inventor  of  the  title  may  have 
meant  it  as  a  nickname,  but,  if  so,  He  who  overruled  the  way- 
wardness of  Pilate,  so  that  he  wrote  on  the  cross  a  faithful  in- 
scription,'' also  caused  this  mocker  of  His  servants  to  stumble 
on  a  most  truthful  and  complimentary  designation. 

From  his  first  appearance  in  Antioch,  Paul  occupied  a  very 
influential  position  among  his  brethren.  In  that  refined  and 
opulent  city,  his  learning,  his  dialectic  skill,  his  prudence,  and 
his  pious  ardor  were  all  calculated  to  make  his  ministry  most 
effective.  About  a  year  after  his  arrival  there,  he  was  deputed 
in  company  with  a  friend  to  visit  Palestine  on  an  errand  of 
love.  "  In  those  days  came  prophets  from  Jerusalem  unto 
Antioch.  And  there  stood  up  one  of  them  named  Agabus, 
and  signified  by  the  Spirit  that  there  should  be  great  dearth 

'  Acts  xi.  20.  "  John  xix.  19-22. 


58  PAUL  AT   ANTIOCH. 

throughout  all  the  world ;  which  came  to  pass  in  the  days  of 
Claudius  Cesar.  Then  the  disciples,  every  man  according  to 
his  ability,  determined  to  send  relief  to  the  brethren  which 
dwelt  in  Judea.  Which  also  they  did,  and  sent  it  to  the  el- 
ders by  the  hands  of  Barnabas  and  Saul." ' 

This  narrative  attests  that  the  principle  of  a  community  of 
goods  was  not  recognized  in  the  Church  of  Antioch  ;  for  the 
aid  administered  was  supplied,  not  out  of  a  general  fund,  but 
by  "  every  man  according  to  his  ability."  There  was  here  no 
"murmuring  of  the  Grecians  against  the  Hebrews,"  as,  in  the 
spirit  of  true  brotherhood,  the  wealthy  Hellenists  of  Antioch 
cheerfully  contributed  to  the  relief  of  the  poor  Hebrews  of 
their  fatherland.  It  is  not  stated  that  "  the  elders,"  in  whose 
hands  the  money  was  deposited,  were  all  ofifice-bearers  con- 
nected with  the  Church  of  Jerusalem.  These,  of  course,  re- 
ceived no  small  share  of  the  donations,  but  as  the  assistance 
was  designed  for  the  "  brethren  which  dwelt  in  jfudea"  and 
not  merely  for  the  disciples  in  the  holy  city,  we  may  infer  that 
it  was  distributed  among  the  elders  of  all  the  Churches  now 
scattered  over  the  southern  part  of  Palestine."  Neither  did 
Barnabas  and  Paul  require  to  make  a  tour  throughout  the  dis- 
trict to  visit  these  various  communities.  All  the  elders  of 
Judea  still  continued  to  observe  the  Mosaic  law ;  and  as  the 
deputies  from  Antioch  were  in  Jerusalem  at  the  time  of  the 
Passover,'  they  found  their  brethren  in  attendance  upon  the 
festival. 

It  is  reported  by  several  ancient  writers  that  the  apostles 
were  instructed  to  remain  at  Jerusalem  for  twelve  years  after 
the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord ;  *  and  if  the  tradition  is  correct, 
the  holy  city  continued  to  be  their  stated  residence  till 
shortly  before  the  arrival  of  these  deputies  from  the  Syrian 
capital.  The  time  of  this  visit  can  be  pretty  accurately  ascer- 
tained, and  there  is  no  point  connected  with  the  history  of 

'  Acts  xi.  27-30. 

'It  is  obvious  from  Acts  ix.   31,   xxvi.   20,   and  Gal.  i.  22,  that  such 
Churches  now  existed. 
'  Acts  xii.  3,  24,  25. 
*  Ckm.  Alex.,  Strom,  vi.,  p.  742,  note;  Edit.  Potter.     Eusebius,  v.  18. 


BARNABAS   AND   PAUL   GO   TO   JERUSALEM.  59 

the  book  of  the  Acts  respecting  which  there  is  such  a  close 
approximation  to  unanimity  among  chronologists ;  for,  as  Jo- 
sephus  notices/  both  the  sudden  death  of  Herod  Agrippa, 
grandson  of  Herod  the  Great,  which  now  occurred,'  and  the 
famine  against  which  this  contribution  was  intended  to  pro- 
vide, it  is  apparent  from  the  date  which  he  assigns  to  them 
that  Barnabas  and  Saul  reached  Jerusalem  about  A.D.  44.' 
At  this  juncture  at  least  two  of  the  apostles — James  the 
brother  of  John,  and  Peter — were  in  the  Jewish  capital,  and 
all  the  rest  had  not  yet  finally  taken  their  departure.  The 
Twelve  did  not  set  out  on  distant  missions  until  they  were 
thoroughly  convinced  that  they  had  ceased  to  make  progress 
in  the  conversion  of  their  countrymen  in  the  land  of  their  fa- 
thers. And  it  is  no  trivial  evidence,  at  once  of  the  strength 
of  their  convictions  and  of  the  truth  of  the  evangelical  his- 
tory, that  they  continued  so  long  and  so  efficiently  to  pro- 
claim the  Gospel  in  the  chief  city  of  Palestine.  Had  they 
not  acted  under  an  overwhelming  sense  of  duty,  they  would 
not  have  remained  in  a  place  where  their  lives  were  in  perpet- 
ual jeopardy ;  and,  had  they  not  been  faithful  witnesses,  they 
could  not  have  induced  so  many  of  all  classes  of  society  to 
believe  statements  which,  if  unfounded,  would  have  been  con- 
tradicted on  the  spot.  The  apostles  were  known  to  many  in 
Jerusalem  as  the  companions  of  our  Lord ;  for,  during  His 
public  ministry,  they  had  often  been  seen  with  Him  in  the 
city  and  the  temple ;  and,  therefore,  peculiar  importance  was 
attached  to  their  testimony  respecting  His  doctrines  and  His 
miracles.  Their  preaching  in  the  headquarters  of  Judaism 
was  fitted  to  exert  an  immense  influence — as  that  metropolis 
itself  contained  a  vast  population,  and  as  it  was,  besides,  the 
resort  of  strangers  from  all  parts  of  the  world.     And  so  long 

*  "  Antiquities,"  xix.  c.  8,  §  2,  xx.  c,  2,  §  5.  "  Acts  xii.  20-23. 

'  From  the  comparative  table  of  chronology  appended  to  Wieseler's 
"  Chronologic  des  apostolischen  Zeitalters,"  it  appears  that  the  date  given 
in  the  text  is  adopted  by  no  less  than  twenty  of  the  highest  chronological 
authorities,  including  Ussher,  Pearson,  Spanheim,  Tillemont,  Michaelis, 
Hug,  and  De  Wette.  It  is  also  adopted  by  Burton.  Wieseler  himself,  on 
insufficient  grounds,  adopts  A.D.  45. 


60  THE   APOSTLES   LEAVE   JERUSALEM. 

as  the  apostles  ministered  in  Jerusalem  or  in  Palestine  only  to 
the  house  of  Israel,  it  was  expedient  that  their  number,  which 
was  an  index  of  the  Divine  regard  for  the  whole  of  the  twelve 
tribes,  should  be  maintained  in  its  integrity.  But  when,  after 
preaching  twelve  years  among  their  countrymen  at  home,  they 
found  their  labors  becoming  comparatively  barren  ;  and  when, 
driven  by  persecution  from  Judea,  they  proceeded  on  distant 
missions,  their  position  was  quite  altered.  Their  number  had 
at  least  partially '  lost  its  original  significance ;  and  hence, 
when  an  apostle  died,  the  survivors  no  longer  deemed  it  nec- 
essary to  take  steps  for  the  appointment  of  a  successor.  We 
find  accordingly  that  when  Herod  "  killed  James,  the  brother 
of  John,  with  the  sword,"*  no  other  individual  was  selected 
to  occupy  the  vacant  apostleship. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that  when  Paul  was  in  Jerusalem 
for  the  first  time  after  his  conversion,  he  received,  when  pray- 
ing in  the  temple,  a  divine  communication  informing  him  of 
his  mission  to  the  heathen.'  During  his  present  visit,  as  the 
bearer  of  the  contributions  from  Antioch,  he  seems  to  have 
been  favored  with  another  revelation.  In  his  Second  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians  he  refers  to  this  most  comfortable,  yet  mys- 
terious, manifestation.  "  I  know,"  '  says  he,  "  a  man  in  Christ 
fourteen  years  ago  '  (whether  in  the  body,  I  can  not  tell,  or 
whether  out  of  the  body,  I  can  not  tell  ;  God  knoweth)  such 
an  one  caught  up  to  the  third  heaven.     And  I  know  such  a 

'  Though  Peter  was  taught  by  the  case  of  Cornelius  that  "God  also  to 
the  Gentiles  had  granted  repentance  unto  life"  (Acts  xi.  i8),  and,  though 
he  doubtless  felt  himself  a  debtor,  both  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the  Jews,  yet 
still  he  continued  to  cherish  the  conviction  that  his  njission  was  primarily  to 
his  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh.  James  and  John  had  the  same  impres- 
sion.    See  Gal.  ii.  9 ;  James  i.  i  ;  i  Pet.  i.  i. 

'  Acts  xii.  2.  '  Acts  xxii.  17-21. 

*  I  here  partially  adopt  the  translation  of  Conybeare  and  Howson.  Their 
work  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  contributions  to  sacred  literature  of  the 
present  century.  The  revised  version  of  the  New  Testament  has  much  the 
same  reading. 

*  The  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  was  written  about  fourteen  years 
after  this,  or  toward  the  close  of  a.d.  57.  See  Chap.  LX.  of  this  Section. 
The  Jews  often  reckoned  current  time  as  if  it  were  complete. 


PAUL'S   VISION.  6l 

man  (whether  in  the  body,  or  out  of  the  body,  I  can  not  tell ; 
God  knoweth)  that  he  was  caught  up  into  paradise,  and  heard 
unspeakable  words  which  it  is  not  lawful  for  man  to  utter."  ' 
The  present  position  of  the  apostle  explains  the  design  of 
this  sublime  and  delightful  vision.  As  Moses  was  encouraged 
to  undertake  the  deliverance  of  his  countrymen  when  God 
appeared  to  him  in  the  burning  bush,''  and  as  Isaiah  was  em- 
boldened to  go  forth,  as  the  messenger  of  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
when  he  saw  Jehovah  sitting  upon  His  throne  attended  by 
the  seraphim,'  so  Paul  was  stirred  up  by  an  equally  impressive 
revelation  to  gird  himself  for  the  labors  of  a  new  appointment. 
He  was  about  to  commence  a  more  extensive  missionary 
career,  and  before  entering  upon  so  great  and  so  perilous  an 
undertaking,  the  King  of  kings  condescended  to  encourage 
him  by  admitting  him  to  a  gracious  audience,  and  by  per- 
mitting him  to  enjoy  some  glimpses  of  the  glory  of  those 
realms  of  light  where  "  they  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the 
brightness  of  the  firmament,  and  they  that  turn  many  to 
righteousness  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever." 

'  2  Cor.  xii.  2-4.  2  Exodus  iii.  2-10.  '  Isaiah  vi.  i,  2,  8,  9. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   ORDINATION  OF   PAUL  AND  BARNABAS  ;   THEIR  MISSION- 

ARY   TOUR   IN  ASIA   MINOR  ;   AND   THE  COUNCIL 

OF  JERUSALEM. 

A.D.     44     to      A.D.     51. 

Soon  after  returning  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch,  Paul  was 
formally  invested  with  his  new  commission.  His  fellow- 
deputy,  Barnabas,  was  appointed  as  his  coadjutor  in  this  im- 
portant service.  "  Now,"  says  the  evangelist,  "  there  were  in 
the  church  that  was  at  Antioch  certain  prophets  and  teachers, 
as  Barnabas,  and  Simeon  that  was  called  Niger,  and  Lucius  of 
Cyrene,  and  Manaen,  which  had  been  brought  up  with  Herod 
the  tetrarch,  and  Saul.  As  they  ministered  to  the  Lord  and 
fasted,  the  Holy  Ghost  said.  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul 
for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  called  them.  And  when  they 
had  fasted,  and  prayed,  and  laid  their  hands  on  them,  they 
sent  them  away."  ' 

Ten  years  had  now  elapsed  since  the  conversion  of  Paul  ; 
and  during  the  greater  part  of  this  period,  he  had  been  busily 
engaged  in  the  dissemination  of  the  Gospel.  In  the  days  of  his 
Judaism  the  learned  Pharisee  had  been  accustomed  to  act  as 
a  teacher  in  the  synagogues ;  and,  when  he  became  obedient 
to  the  faith,  he  was  permitted  to  expound  his  new  theology  in 
the  Christian  assemblies.  Barnabas,  his  companion,  was  a 
Levite ;'  and  as  his  tribe  was  specially  charged  with  the  duty 
of  public  instruction,'  he  too  had  probably  been  a  preacher 
before  his  conversion.  Both  these  men  were  called  of  God  to 
labor  as  evangelists,  and  the  Head  of  the  Church  had  already 

'  Acts  xiii.  1-3.  *  Acts  iv.  36.  *  Deut.  xxxiii.  lo. 

(62) 


ORDINATION   OF   PAUL  AND   BARNABAS.  63 

abundantly  honored  their  ministrations  ;  but  hitherto  neither 
of  them  had  been  clothed  with  pastoral  authority  by  any 
regular  ordination.  Their  constant  presence  in  Antioch  was 
now  no  longer  necessaiy,  so  that  they  were  thus  left  at  liberty 
to  prosecute  their  missionary  operations  in  the  great  field  of 
heathendom;  and  at  this  juncture  they  were  designated,  in 
due  form,  to  their  "  ministry  and  apostleship."  ''The  Holy 
Ghost  said,  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work 
whereunto  I  have  called  them."  When  we  consider  the  pres- 
ent circumstances  of  these  two  brethren,  we  may  see,  not  only 
why  these  instructions  were  given,  but  also  why  their  observ- 
ance has  been  so  distinctly  registered. 

It  is  apparent  that  Barnabas  and  Saul  were  now  called  to  a 
position  of  higher  responsibility  than  that  which  they  had  pre- 
viously occupied.  They  had  heretofore  acted  simply  as  preach- 
ers of  the  Christian  doctrine.  Prompted  by  love  to  their 
common  Master,  and  by  a  sense  of  individual  obligation,  they 
had  endeavored  to  diffuse  all  around  them  a  knowledge  of 
the  Redeemer.  They  taught  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  just  be- 
cause they  possessed  the  gifts  and  the  graces  required  for  such 
a  service  ;  and,  as  their  labors  were  acknowledged  of  God, 
they  were  encouraged  to  persevere.  But  they  were  now  to  go 
forth,  as  a  solemn  deputation,  under  the  sanction  of  the 
Church ;  and  not  only  to  proclaim  the  truth,  but  also  to  bap- 
tize converts,  to  organize  Christian  congregations,  and  to 
ordain  Christian  ministers.  It  was,  therefore,  proper  that,  on 
this  occasion,  they  should  be  regularly  invested  with  the  eccle- 
siastical commission. 

On  other  grounds  it  was  desirable  that  the  mission  of  Bar- 
nabas and  Paul  should  be  thus  inaugurated.  Though  the 
apostles  had  been  lately  driven  from  Jerusalem,  and  though 
the  Jews  were  exhibiting  increasing  aversion  to  the  Gospel, 
the  Church  was,  notwithstanding,  about  to  expand  with  ex- 
traordinary vigor  by  the  ingathering  of  the  Gentiles.  In 
reference  to  these  new  members  Paul  and  Barnabas  pursued  a 
bold  and  independent  course,  advocating  views  which  many 
regarded  as  dangerous,  latitudinarian,  and  profane ;  for  they 
maintained  that  the  ceremonial  law  was  not  binding  on  the 


64  ORDINATION   OF   PAUL  AND   BARN  \BAS. 

converts  from  heathenism.  Their  adoption  of  this  principle 
exposed  them  to  much  suspicion  and  obloqu)'- ;  and  because 
of  the  tenacity  with  which  they  persisted  in  its  vindication, 
not  a  few  were  disposed  to  question  their  credentials  as  ex- 
positors of  the  Christian  faith.  It  was,  therefore,  expedient 
that  their  right  to  perform  all  the  apostolic  functions  should 
be  placed  above  challenge.  In  some  way,  not  particu- 
larly described,  their  appointment  by  the  Spirit  of  God  was 
accordingly  made  known  to  the  Church  at  Antioch  ;  and  thus 
all  the  remaining  prophets  and  teachers,  who  officiated  there, 
could  distinctly  testify  that  these  two  brethren  had  received  a 
call  from  heaven  to  engage  in  the  work  to  which  they  were 
now  designated.  Their  ordination,  in  obedience  to  this  divine 
communication,  was  a  decisive  recognition  of  their  spiritual 
authority.  The  Holy  Ghost  had  attested  their  commission, 
and  the  ministers  of  Antioch,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  set 
their  seal  to  the  truth  of  the  oracle.  Their  title  to  act  as 
founders  of  the  Church  was  thus  authenticated  by  evidence 
which  could  not  be  legitimately  disputed.  Paul  himself  ob- 
viously attached  considerable  importance  to  this  transaction, 
and  he  afterward  refers  to  it  in  language  of  marked  emphasis, 
when,  in  the  beginning  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  he  in- 
troduces himself  as  "a  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  called  to  be  an 
apostle,  separated  unto  the  Gospel  of  God.'' ' 

In  the  circumstantial  record  of  this  proceeding,  to  be  found 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  we  have  a  proof  of  the  wisdom  of 
the  Author  of  Revelation.  He  foresaw  that  the  rite  of  "  the 
laying  on  of  hands  "  would  be  sadly  abused ;  and  that,  repre- 
sented as  possessing  something  like  a  magic  potency,  it  was  to 
be  at  lenc^th  converted,  by  a  small  class  of  ministers,  into  an 
ecclesiastical  monopoly.  He  has,  therefore,  supplied  us  with 
an  antidote  against  delusion,  by  permitting  us,  in  this  simple 
narrative,  to  scan  its  exact  import.  And  what  was  the  virtue 
of  the  ordination  here  described  ?  Did  it  furnish  Paul  and 
Barnabas  with  a  title  to  the  ministry?  Not  at  all.  God  him- 
self had  already  called  them  to  the  work,  and  they  could  re- 

'  Rom.  i,  I. 


ORDINATION   OF   PAUL   AND   BARNABAS.  6$ 

ceive  no  higher  authorization.  Did  it  necessarily  add  any- 
thing to  the  eloquence,  or  the  prudence,  or  the  knowledge,  or 
the  piety  of  the  missionaries?  No  results  of  the  kind  were  to 
be  produced  by  any  such  ceremony.  What,  then,  was  its 
meaning?  The  evangelist  himself  furnishes  an  answer.  The 
Holy  Ghost  required  that  Barnabas  and  Saul  should  be  sepa- 
rated to  the  work  to  which  the  Lord  had  called  them,  and  the 
laying  on  of  hands  was  the  mode,  ox  form,  in  which  they  were 
set  apart,  or  designated,  to  the  office.  This  rite,  to  an  Israelite, 
suggested  grave  and  hallowed  associations.  When  a  Jewish 
father  invoked  a  benediction  on  any  of  his  family,  he  laid  his 
hand  upon  the  head  of  the  child ;'  when  a  Jewish  priest  de- 
voted an  animal  in  sacrifice,  he  laid  his  hand  upon  the  head  of 
the  victim  ;"  and  when  a  Jewish  ruler  invested  another  with 
office,  he  laid  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  the  new  functionary.' 
The  ordination  of  these  brethren  possessed  all  this  significance. 
By  the  laying  on  of  hands  the  ministers  of  Antioch  implored 
a  blessing  on  Barnabas  and  Saul,  and  announced  their  separa- 
tion, or  dedication,  to  the  work  of  the  Gospel,  and  intimated 
their  investiture  with  ecclesiastical  authority. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  parties  who  acted  as  ordainers 
were  not  dignitaries,  planted  here  and  there  throughout  the 
Church,  and  selected  for  this  service  on  account  of  their  of- 
ficial pre-eminence.  They  were  all,  at  the  time,  connected 
with  the  Christian  community  assembling  in  the  city  which 
was  the  scene  of  the  inauguration.  No  individual  among  them 
claimed  the  precedence;  all  engaged  on  equal  terms  in  the 
performance  of  this  interesting  ceremony.  We  can  not  mistake 
the  official  standing  of  these  brethren  if  we  only  mark  the 
nature  of  the  duties  in  which  they  were  ordinarily  occupied. 
They  were  "  prophets  and  teachers  ";  they  were  sound  script- 
ural expositors ;  some  of  them  were  endowed  with  the  gift  of 
prophetic  interpretation  ;  and  they  were  all  employed  in  im- 
parting theological  instruction.  Though  the  name  is  not  here 
expressly  given  to  them,  they  were,  at  least  virtually,  "  the 
elders  who  labored  in  the  word  and  doctrine."  *     Paul,  there- 

'Gen.  xlviii.  13-15.  ^  Lev.  viii.  18,  and  iv.  4. 

'  Num.  xxvii.  18.  *  i  Tim.  v.  17. 


66  PAUL  AND   BARNABAS   IN   CYPRUS. 

fore,  was  ordained  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Presby' 
tery  of  Antioch.* 

If  the  narrative  of  Luke  was  designed  to  illustrate  the  ques- 
tion of  ministerial  ordination,  it  plainly  suggests  that  the 
power  of  Church  rulers  is  very  circumscribed.  They  have  no 
right  to  refuse  the  laying  on  of  hands  to  those  whom  God  has 
called  to  the  work  of  the  Gospel,  and  who,  by  their  gifts  and 
graces,  give  credible  evidences  of  their  holy  vocation  ;  and 
they  are  not  at  liberty  to  admit  the  irreligious  or  incompetent 
to  ecclesiastical  offices.  In  the  sight  of  the  Most  High  the  or- 
dination to  the  pastorate  of  an  individual  morally  and  mentally 
disqualified  is  invalid  and  impious. 

Immediately  after  their  ordination  Paul  and  Barnabas  en- 
tered on  their  apostolic  mission.  Leaving  Antioch  they 
quickly  reached  Seleucia ' — a  city  distant  about  twelve  miles 
—  and  from  thence  passed  on  to  Cyprus,"  the  native  country  of 
Barnabas.*  They  probably  spent  a  considerable  time  in  that 
large  island.  It  contained  several  towns  of  note ;  it  was  the 
residence  of  great  numbers  of  Jews ;  and  the  degraded  state 
of  its  heathen  inhabitants  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that 
Venus  was  their  tutelar^'  goddess.  The  preaching  of  the 
apostles  in  this  place  created  an  immense  sensation  ;  their  fame 
at  length  attracted  the  attention  of  persons  of  the  highest  dis- 
tinction, and  the  heart  of  Paul  was  cheered  by  the  accession  of 
no  less  illustrious  a  convert  than  Sergius  Paulus,^  the  Roman 
proconsul.    Departing  from  Cyprus,  Paul  and  Barnabas  now  set 

'  This  portion  of  the  apostolic  history  may  illustrate  i  Tim.  iv.  14,  for 
Paul  had  official  authority  conferred  on  him  "  by  prophecy,"  or  in  conse- 
quence of  a  revelation  made,  perhaps,  through  one  of  the  prophets  of  An- 
tioch, "with  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Presbytery."  Something 
similar,  probably,  occurred  in  the  case  of  Timothy.  But,  in  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, the  rulers  of  the  Church  must  judge  of  a  divine  call  to  the  min- 
istry' from  the  gifts  and  graces  of  the  candidate  for  ordination. 

"  Acts  xiii.  4.  •  Acts  xiii.  4.  *  Acts  iv.  36. 

'  Until  this  date  we  read  of  "  Barnabas  and  Saul,"  now  of  "  Paul  and 
Barnabas."  Paul  was  the  Roman,  and  Saul  the  Hebrew  name  of  the  great 
apostle.  His  superior  qualifications  had  now  full  scope  for  development, 
and  accordingly,  as  he  takes  the  lead,  he  is  henceforth  generally  named  be- 
fore Barnabas. 


PAUL  AND   BARNABAS   IN   ASIA    MINOR.  6/ 

sail  for  Asia  Minor,  where  they  landed  at  Perga,  in  Pamphylia. 
Here  John  Mark,  the  nephew  of  Barnabas,  by  whom  they  had 
been  hitherto  accompanied,  refused  to  proceed  further.  He 
seems  to  have  been  intimidated  by  the  prospect  of  accumulat- 
ing difficulties.  From  many,  on  religious  grounds,  they  had 
reason  to  anticipate  a  most  discouraging  reception ;  and  the 
land  journey  now  before  them  was  otherwise  beset  with  dan- 
gers. Whilst  engaged  in  it,  Paul  experienced  those  "  perils  of 
waters,"  or  of  "  rivers,"  '  and  "  perils  of  robbers,"  which  he  aft- 
erward mentions;  for  the  highlands  of  Asia  Minor  were  in- 
fested  with  banditti,  and  the  mountain  streams  often  rose  with 
frightful  rapidity,  and  swept  away  the  unwary  stranger.  John 
Mark  returned  to  Jerusalem,  and,  at  a  subsequent  period,  we 
find  Paul  refusing,  in  consequence,  to  receive  him  as  a  travel- 
ling companion."  But  though  Barnabas  was  then  dissatisfied 
because  the  apostle  continued  to  be  distrustful  of  his  relative, 
and  though  "  the  contention  was  so  sharp  "  between  these  two 
eminent  heralds  of  the  cross  that  "  they  departed  asunder  one 
from  the  other," '  the  return  of  this  young  minister  from  Per- 
ga  led  to  no  change  in  their  present  arrangements.  Continu- 
ing their  journey  into  the  interior  of  the  country,  they 
preached  in  Antioch  of  Pisidia,  in  Iconium,  in  "  Lystra  and 
Derbe,  cities  of  Lycaonia,"  and  in  "  the  region  thait  lieth  round 
about."*  When  they  had  proceeded  thus  far,  they  began  to 
retrace  their  steps,  and  again  visited  the  places  where  they  had 
previously  succeeded  in  collecting  congregations.  They  now 
supplied  their  converts  with  a  settled  ministry.  When  they 
had  presided  in  every  church  at  an  appointment  of  elders,^  in 
which  the  choice  was  determined  by  popular  suffrage,"  and 
when  they  had  prayed  with  fasting,  they  laid  their  hands  on 
the   elected    office-bearers,  and    in    this    form    "  commended 

*  2  Cor.  xi.  26, — nora/xciv.  *  Acts  XV.  38. 

'Acts  XV.  39.  *  Acts  xiv.  6.  *  Acts  xiv.  23. 

°  XeipoTov^aavreg  6e  avrolg  Kar'  tKKXrja'tav  npea^vTepovQ. — The  interpretation 
given  in  the  text  is  sanctified  by  the  highest  authorities.     See  Rothe's 

Anfange  der  Christlichen  Kirche,"  p.  150;  Alford  on  Acts  xiv.  23;  Bur- 
ton's "  Lectures,"  i.  150;  Baumgarten's  "Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  Acts  xiv. 
23  ;  Litton's  "  Church  of  Christ,"  p.  595. 


68  PAUL  AND   BARNABAS   IN   ASIA   MINOR. 

them  to  the  Lord  on  whom  they  beheved."  Having  thus 
planted  the  Gospel  in  many  districts  which  had  never  before 
been  trodden  by  the  feet  of  a  Christian  missionary,  they  re- 
turned to  Antioch  in  Syria  to  rehearse  "  all  that  God  had  done 
with  them,  and  how  he  had  opened  the  door  of  faith  unto  the 
Gentiles."  ' 

Paul  and  Barnabas  spent  about  six  years  in  this  first  tour;" 
and,  occasionally,  when  their  ministrations  were  likely  to  exert 
a  wide  and  permanent  influence,  remained  long  in  particular 
localities.  The  account  of  their  designation,  and  of  their  labors 
in  Cyprus,  Pamphylia,  Lycaonia,  and  the  surrounding  regions, 
occupies  two  whole  chapters  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  The 
importance  of  their  mission  may  be  estimated  from  this  length- 
ened notice.  Christianity  greatly  extended  its  base  of  opera- 
tions, and  shook  paganism  in  some  of  its  strongholds.  In  every 
place  which  they  visited,  the  apostles  observed  a  uniform  plan 
of  procedure.  In  the  first  instance,  they  made  their  appeal  to 
the  seed  of  Abraham  ;  as  they  were  themselves  learned  Israel- 
ites, they  were  generally  permitted,  on  their  arrival  in  a  town, 
to  set  forth  the  claims  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  in  the  synagogue ; 
and  not  until  the  Jews  had  exhibited  a  spirit  of  unbelief,  did 
they  turn  to  the  heathen  population.  In  the  end,  by  far  the 
majority  of  their  converts  were  reclaimed  idolaters.  "  The 
Gentiles  were  glad,  and  glorified  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  as 
many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life,  believed." '  Astonished 
at  the  mighty  miracles  exhibited  by  the  two  missionaries,  the 
pagans  imagined  that  "  the  gods "  had  come  down  to  them 
"  in  the  likeness  of  men  "  ;  and  at  Lystra  the  priest  of  Jupiter 
"  brought  oxen  and  garlands  unto  the  gates,  and  would  have 
done  sacrifice  with  the  people";*  but  the  Jews  looked  on  in 
sullen  incredulity,  and  kept  alive  an  active  and  implacable  op- 
position. At  Cyprus,  the  apostles  had  to  contend  against  the 
craft  of  a  Jewish  conjuror;^  at  Antioch,  "the  Jews  stirred  up 
the  devout  and  honorable  women,  and  the  chief  men  of  the 

'  Acts  xiv.  27. 

'  They  set  out  on  the  mission  probably  in  A.D.  44,  and  returned  to  Antioch 
in  A.D.  50.     The  Council  of  Jerusalem  took  place  the  year  following. 
'Acts  xiii.  48.  *Actsxiv.  13.  ° Acts  xiii.  6-8. 


PAUL  AND   BARNABAS   IN   ASIA   MINOR.  69 

city,  and  raised  persecution  "  against  them,  "  and  expelled  them 
out  of  their  coasts  ";  *  at  Iconium,  the  Jews  again  "  stirred  up 
the  Gentiles,  and  made  their  minds  evil  affected  against  the 
brethren";"  and  at  Lystra  the  same  parties  "persuaded  the 
people,  and  having  stoned  Paul,  drew  him  out  of  the  city,  sup- 
posing he  had  been- dead." '  .The  trials  through  which  he  now 
passed  made  an  indelible  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  great 
apostle,  and  in  the  last  of  his  epistles,  written  many  years  after- 
ward, he  refers  to  them  as  among  the  most  formidable  he  en- 
countered in  his  perilous  career.  Timothy,  who  at  this  time 
was  a  mere  boy,  witnessed  some  of  these  ebullitions  of 
Jewish  malignity,  and  marked  with  admiration  the  heroic 
spirit  of  the  heralds  of  the  Cross.  Paul,  when  about  to 
be  decapitated  by  the  sword  of  Nero,  could,  therefore,  appeal 
to  the  evangelist,  and  could  fearlessly  declare  that,  twenty 
years  before,  when  his  life  was  often  at  stake,  he  had  not  quailed 
before  the  terrors  of  martyrdom.  "  Thou,"  says  he,  "  hast  fully 
known  my  long-suffering,  charity,  patience,  persecutions,  afflic- 
tions, which  came  unto  me  at  Antiock,  at  Iconium,  at  Lystra, 
what  persecutions  I  endured ;  but  out  of  them  all  the  Lord 
delivered  me."  * 

The  hostile  efforts  of  the  Jews  did  not  arrest  the  Gospel  in 
its  triumphant  career.  The  truth  prevailed  mightily  among 
the  Gentiles,  and  the  great  influx  of  converts  began  to  impart 
an  entirely  new  aspect  to  the  Christian  community.  At  first 
the  Church  consisted  exclusively  of  Israelites  by  birth,  and  all 
who  entered  it  still  continued  to  observe  the  institution  of 
Moses.  But  the  number  of  its  Gentile  adherents  soon  pre- 
ponderated, and  ere  long  the  keeping  of  the  typical  law  be- 
came the  peculiarity  of  a  minority  of  its  members.  Many  of 
the  converted  Jews  were  by  no  means  prepared  for  such  an 
alternative.  They  prided  themselves  on  their  divinely-instituted 
worship  ;  and,  misled  by  the  fallacy  that  whatever  is  appointed 
by  God  can  never  become  obsolete,  they  conceived  that  the 
spread  of  Christianity  must  be  connected  with  the  extension 

'Acts  xiii.  50.  '^Acts  xiv.  2. 

3  Acts  xiv.  19.  *  2  Tim.  iii.  10,  1 1. 


70  THE  CIRCUMCISION   CONTROVERSY. 

of  their  national  ceremonies.  They  accordingly  asserted  that 
the  commandment  relative  to  the  initiatory  ordinance  of  Juda- 
ism was  binding  upon  all  admitted  to  Christian  fellowship. 
"Certain  men  which  came  down  from  Judea"  to  Antioch, 
"  taught  the  brethren,  and  said,  Except  ye  be  circumcised  after 
the  manner  of  Moses,  ye  can  not  be  saved."  ' 

Paul  was  eminently  qualified  to  deal  with  such  errorists. 
He  had  once  valued  himself  on  his  Pharisaic  strictness,  but 
when  God  revealed  to  him  His  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ,  he  was  taught  to  distinguish  between  a  living  faith  and 
a  dead  formalism.  He  still  maintained  his  social  status,  as  one 
of  the  "  chosen  people,"  by  the  keeping  of  the  law  ;  but  he 
knew  that  it  merely  prefigured  the  great  redemption,  and  that 
its  types  and  shadows  must  quickly  disappear  before  the  light 
of  the  Gospel.  He  saw,  too,  that  the  arguments  urged  for  cir- 
cumcision could  also  be  employed  in  behalf  of  all  the  Leviti- 
cal  arrangements,"  and  that  the  tendency  of  the  teaching  of 
these  "  men  which  came  down  from  Judea"  was  to  encumber 
the  disciples  with  the  weight  of  a  superannuated  ritual.  Nor 
was  this  all.  The  apostle  felt  that  the  spirit  which  animated 
these  Judaizing  zealots  was  a  spirit  of  self-righteousness. 
When  they  "  taught  the  brethren  and  said.  Except  ye  be  cir- 
cumcised after  the  manner  of  Moses,  ye  can  not  be  saved,"  they 
subverted  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  alone.^  A  sin- 
ner is  saved  as  soon  as  he  believes  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,' 
and  he  requires  neither  circumcision,  nor  any  other  ordinance, 
to  complete  his  pardon.  Baptism  is,  indeed,  the  sign  by  which 
believers  solemnly  declare  their  acceptance  of  the  Gospel,  and 
the  seal  by  which  God  is  graciously  pleased  to  recognize  them 
as  heirs  of  the  righteousness  of  faith ;  and  yet  even  baptism  is 
not  essential  to  salvation,  for  the  penitent  thief,  though  un- 
baptizcd,  was  admitted  into  Paradise.^  But  circumcision  is  no 
part  of  Christianity  at  all ;  it  docs  not  so  much  as  indicate  that 
the  individual  who  submits  to  it  is  a  believer  in  Jesus.     Faith 

'  Acts  XV.  I. 

'This  inference  was  indeed  admitted.     See  Acts  xv.  5,  24. 

'Gal.  V.  2-4,  vi.  13,  14.  'Acts  xvi.  31  ;  John  iii.  36. 

'  Luke  xxiii.  43. 


THE   CIRCUMCISION   CONTROVERSY.  71 

in  the  Saviour  is  the  only  and  the  perfect  way  of  justification. 
"  Blessed  are  all  they  that  put  their  trust  in  him,"  '  for  Christ 
will,  without  fail,  conduct  to  glory  all  who  commit  themselves 
to  His  guidance  and  protection.  Those  who  trust  in  Him  can 
not  but  love  Him,  and  those  who  love  Him  can  not  but  de- 
light to  do  His  will ;  and  as  faith  is  the  root  of  holiness  and 
happiness,  so  unbelief  is  the  fountain  of  sin  and  misery.  But 
though  the  way  of  salvation  by  faith  can  only  be  spiritually 
discerned,  many  seek  to  make  it  palpable  by  connecting  it  with 
certain  visible  institutions.  Faith  looks  to  Jesus  as  the  only 
way  to  heaven  ;  superstition  looks  to  some  outward  observ- 
ance, such  as  baptism  or  circumcision  (which  is  only  a  finger- 
post on  the  way),  and  confounds  it  with  the  way  itself.  Faith 
is  satisfied  with  a  very  simple  ritual ;  superstition  wearies  itself 
with  the  multiplicity  of  its  minute  observances.  Faith  holds 
communion  with  the  Saviour  in  all  His  appointments,  and  re- 
joices in  Him  with  joy  unspeakable  ;  superstition  leans  on  forms 
and  ceremonies,  and  is  in  bondage  to  these  beggarly  elements. 
No  wonder  then  that  the  attempt  to  impose  on  the  converted 
Gentiles  the  rites  of  both  Christianity  and  Judaism  encountered 
such  resolute  opposition.  Paul  and  Barnabas  at  once  withstood 
its  abettors,  and  had  "  no  small  dissension  and  disputation  with 
them." "  It  was  felt,  however,  that  a  matter  of  such  grave  im- 
portance merited  the  consideration  of  the  collective  wisdom 
of  the  Church,  and  it  was  accordingly  agreed  to  send  these 
two  brethren,  "  and  certain  other  of  them,"  "  to  Jerusalem  un- 
to the  apostles  and  elders  about  this  question.' 

It  is  not  stated  that  the  Judaizing  teachers  confined  their  in- 
terference to  Antioch,  and  the  subsequent  narrative  indicates 
that  the  deputation  to  Jerusalem  acted  on  behalf  of  all  the 
Churches  in  Syria  and  Cilicia.*  The  Christian  societies  scat- 
tered throughout  Pamphylia,  Lycaonia,  and  some  other  dis- 
tricts of  Asia  Minor,  were  not  directly  concerned  in  sending 
forward  the  commissioners  ;  but  as  these  communities  had 
been  collected  and  organized  by  Paul  and  Barnabas,  they  con- 
sidered that  they  were  represented  by  their  founders,  and  they 

'Ps.  ii.  12.  ^  Acts  XV.  2.  'Acts  XV.  2.        ■*  Acts  xv.  23,  24,  41. 


72  THE   COUNCIL  OF  JERUSALEM. 

at  once  acceded  to  the  decision  of  the  assembly  which  met  in 
the  Jewish  metropohs.'  That  assembly  approached  more 
closely  than  any  ecclesiastical  convention  ever  since  held,  to 
the  character  of  a  general  council.  It  is  clear  that  its  deliber- 
ations took  place  at  the  time  of  one  of  the  great  annual 
festivals ;  for,  seven  or  eight  years  before,  the  apostles  had 
commenced  their  travels  as  missionaries,  and  except  at  the 
season  of  the  Passover  or  of  Pentecost,  the  Syrian  deputation 
could  not  have  reckoned  on  finding  them  in  the  holy  city.  It 
is  not  said  that  the  officials  to  be  consulted  belonged  exclu- 
sively to  Jerusalem.'  They  included  the  elders  throughout 
Palestine  who  usually  repaired  to  the  capital  to  celebrate  the 
national  solemnities.  This  meeting,  therefore,  was  constructed 
on  a  broader  basis  than  what  a  superficial  reading  of  the  nar- 
rative might  suggest.  Among  its  members  were  the  older 
apostles,  as  well  as  Barnabas  and  Paul,  so  that  it  contained 
the  principal  founders  of  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  Churches; 
there  were  also  present  the  elders  of  Jerusalem,  and  deputies 
from  Antioch,  that  is,  the  representatives  of  the  two  most  exten- 
sive and  influential  Christian  societies  in  existence  ;  whilst  com- 
missioners from  the  Churches  of  Syria  and  Cilicia,  and  elders 
from  various  districts  of  the  holy  land,  were  likewise  in  attend- 
ance. The  Universal  Church  was  thus  fairly  represented  in 
this  memorable  Synod. 

*  Acts  xvi.  4. 

*  Paul  and  Barnabas,  with  the  other  deputies,  were  sent  "  to  Jerusalem 
unto  the  apostles  and  elders  "  (Acts  xv.  2)  ;  "  when  they  were  come  to  Jeru- 
salem they  were  received  of  the  Church,  even  of  the  apostles  and  elders  " 
(Acts  XV.  4)  ;  and  the  decrees  were  ordained  "  of  the  apostles  and  elders 
which  were  at  Jerusalem  "  (Acts  xvi.  4) ;  but  not  one  of  these  statements 
necessarily  implies  that  these  rulers  were  exclusively  elders  of  the  Church  of 
Jerusalem.  I  here  venture  to  deviate  a  little  from  our  authorized  translation 
of  Acts  XV.  4.  The  word  church  seems  in  this  place  to  mean — not  the  whole 
multitude  of  the  disciples,  but  the  apostles  and  elders.  Paul  and  Barnabas, 
and  their  fellow-deputies,  were  "  received  of  the  chjirch  CT.'en  (or,  that  is  or 
both)  of  the  apostles  and  elders."  The  visit  seems  to  have  been  of  a  pri- 
vate nature.  See  Gal.  ii.  2.  It  was  expedient,  under  the  circumstances, 
that  there  should  be  no  public  reception.  That  a:'"  has  occasionally  the 
meanin}^  here  indicated  we  may  see  by  a  reference  to  Rom.  xi.  33  ;  Matt. 
xxi.  5,  and  other  passages. 


THE   COUNCIL  OF   JERUSALEM.  73 

The  meeting  was  held  A.D.  51,  and  Paul,  exactly  fourteen 
years  before/  had  visited  Jerusalem  for  the  first  time  after  his 
conversion."  So  little  was  then  known  of  his  remarkable  his- 
tory, even  in  the  chief  city  of  Judea,  that  when  he  *'  essayed 
to  join  himself  to  the  disciples,  they  were  all  afraid  of  him, 
and  believed  not  th^t  he  was  a  disciple";'  but  now  his  position 
was  completely  changed,  and  he  was  felt  to  be  one  of  the 
most  influential  personages  who  took  part  in  the  proceedings 
of  this  important  convention.  Some  have  maintained  that 
the  whole  multitude  of  believers  in  the  Jewish  capital  deliber- 
ated and  voted  on  the  question  in  dispute,  but  there  is  cer- 
tainly nothing  in  the  statement  of  the  evangelist  to  warrant 
such  an  inference.  It  is  very  evident  that  the  disciples  in  the 
holy  city  were  not  prepared  to  approve  unaninwusly  of  the 
decision  which  was  actually  adopted,  for  long  afterward  they 
were  "  all  zealous  of  the  law,"  *  and  they  looked  with  extreme 
suspicion  on  Paul  himself,  because  of  the  lax;  principles,  in 
reference  to  its  obligation,  which  he  was  understood  to  patron- 
ize.* When  he  arrived  in  Jerusalem  on  this  mission  he  found 
there  a  party  determined  to  insist  on  the  circumcision  of  the 
converts  from  heathenism ;"  he  complains  of  the  opposition 
he  now  encountered  from  these  *'  false  brethren  unawares 
brought  in  "  ;'  and,  when  he  returned  to  Antioch,  he  was  fol- 

'  It  has  been  argued  by  Burton  ("  Lectures,"  vol.  i.,  p.  122),  that  the  first 
visit  of  Paul  to  Jerusalem  after  his  conversion  took  place  about  the  time  of 
one  of  the  great  festivals,  as  he  is  said,  on  the  occasion,  to  have  "  disputed 
against  the  Grecians  "  (Acts  ix.  29),  who  were  likely  then  to  have  been  very 
numerous  in  the  city.  If  he  arrived  now  at  the  time  of  the  same  festival, 
the  interval  was  precisely  fourteen  years. 

*  Gal.  ii.  I.  Some  make  these  fourteen  years  to  include  the  three  years 
mentioned  Gal.  i.  18,  but  this  interpretation  does  violence  to  the  language 
of  the  apostle.  The  system  of  chronology  here  adopted  requires  no  such 
forced  expositions.  Paul  came  to  Jerusalem  three  years  after  his  conversion, 
that  is,  in  A.D.  37  ;  and  fourteen  years  after,  that  is,  in  A.D.  51,  he  was  at 
this  Synod. 

'  Acts  ix.  26.  *  Acts  xxi.  20.  °  Acts  xxi.  21.  °  Acts  xv.  5. 

'  Gal.  i.i.  4.  It  is  here  taken  for  granted  that  the  visit  to  Jerusalem  men- 
tioned in  the  second  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  is  the  same 
as  that  described  in  the  fifteenth  of  Acts.  Paul  says  that  he  went  up 
"  by  revelation  "  (Gal.  ii.  2), — a  statement  from  which  it  appears  that  he 
was  divinely  instructed  to  adopt  this  method  of  settling  the  question. 


74  THE   COUNCIL   OF  JERUSALEM. 

lowed  by  emissaries  from  the  same  bigoted  and  persevering 
faction.*  It  is  quite  clear,  then,  that  the  finding  of  the  meet- 
ing, mentioned  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  the  Acts,  did  not 
please  all  the  members  of  the  church  of  the  metropolis.  The 
apostle  says  expressly  that  he  communicated  "  privately  "  on 
the  subject  with  "them  which  were  of  reputation," '  and  in 
the  present  state  of  feeling,  especially  in  the  headquarters  of 
Judaism,  Paul  recoiled  from  the  discussion  of  a  question  of 
such  delicacy  before  a  promiscuous  congregation.  The  resolu- 
tion now  agreed  upon,  when  subsequently  mentioned,  is  set 
forth  as  the  act,  not  of  the  whole  body  of  the  disciples,  but 
of  "  the  apostles  and  elders,"  ^  and  as  they  were  the  arbiters  to 
whom  the  appeal  was  made,  they  were  obviously  the  only 
parties  competent  to  pronounce  a  deliverance. 

Two  or  three  expressions  of  doubtful  import,  which  occur 
in  connection  with  the  history  of  the  meeting,  have  induced 
some  to  infer  that  all  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Jerusalem 
were  consulted  on  this  occasion.  It  is  said  that  "  all  the 
multitude  kept  silence,  and  gave  audience  to  Barnabas  and 
Paul  ";  ^  that  it  "  pleased  the  apostles  and  elders  with  the 
whole  church  to  send  chosen  men  of  their  own  company  to 
Antioch  ";'  and,  according  to  our  current  text,  that  the  epistle 
intrusted  to  the  care  of  these  commissioners,  proceeded  from 
"the  apostles  and  elders  and  brethren!"'  But  "the  whole 
church,"  and  "  all  the  multitude,"  merely  signify  the  whole  as- 
sembly present,  and  do  not  necessarily  imply  even  a  very  nu- 
merous congregation.'  Some  at  least  of  the  "certain  other" 
deputies'  sent  with  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  Jerusalem,  were,  we 
may  presume,  disposed  to  doubt  or  dispute  their  views ;  as  it 
is  not  probable  that  a  distracted  constituency  consented  to  the 
appointment  of  commissioners,  all  of  whom  were  already  com- 

'Gal.  ii.  12.  »Gal.  ii.  2.  »  Acts  xvi.  4,  xxi.  25. 

*  Acts  XV.  12.  ■*  Acts  XV.  22.  •  Acts  XV.  23. 

'  The  expression  here  used—"  the  jnultitude  "  (jh  7r?.;';yW)— is  repeatedly 
applied  in  the  New  Testament  to  the  Sanhedrim,  a  court  consisting  of  not 
more  than  seventy-two  members.  See  Luke  xxii.  i  ;  Acts  xxiii.  7.  There 
were  probably  more  individuals  present  at  this  meeting. 

•  Acts  XV.  2. 


THE   COUNCIL   OF  JERUSALEM.  75  ' 

mitted  to  the  same  sentiments.  When,  therefore,  the  evan- 
gehst  reports  that  the  proposal  made  by  James  "  pleased  the 
apostles  and  elders  with  the  whole  Church^'  he  thus  designs  to 
intimate  that  it  met  the  universal  approval  of  the  meeting, 
including  the  deputies  on  both  sides.  There  were  prophets 
and  others  possessed  of  extraordinary  endowments,  in  the 
early  Church,'  and,  as  some  of  these  were  connected  with  Jeru- 
salem," we  can  scarcely  suppose  that  they  were  not  permitted 
to  be  present  in  this  deiiberative  assembly.  If  we  adopt  the  re- 
ceived reading  of  the  superscription  of  the  circular  letter,' 
the  "  brethren "  who  are  there  distinguished  from  "  the 
apostles  and  elders,"  were,  in  all  likelihood,  these  gifted  mem- 
bers.^ But  according  to  the  testimony  of  by  far  the  best  and 
most  ancient  manuscripts,  the  true  reading  of  this  encyclical 
epistle  is,  "  The  apostles  and  elders^  bretJireu.^  As  the  Syrian 
deputies  were  commissioned  to  consult,  not  the  general  body 

*  I  Cor.  xii.  28 ;  Eph.  iv.  11. 

'  In  Acts  xi.  27,  we  read  of  "  prophets  "  who  came  "  from  Jerusalem  unto 
Antioch." 

'  Acts  XV.  23.     "  The  apostles,  and  elders,  and  brethren." 

*  The  context  may  appear  to  be  favorable  to  this  interpretation,  for  the 
two  deputies  now  chosen — "  Judas  surnamed  Barnabas,  and  Silas  " — who 
were  "  chief  men  among  the  brethren  "  (ver.  22),  are  likewise  described  as 
"prophets  also  themselves  "  (ver.  32).  In  Acts  xviii.  27,  "  the  brethren  " 
appear  to  be  distinguished  from  "  the  disciples." 

*  This  reading,  which  is  adopted  by  Mill  in  the  Prolegomena  to  his  New 
Testament,  as  well  as  by  Lachmann,  Neander,  Alford,  and  Tregelles,  is 
supported  by  the  authority  of  the  Codex  Vaticanus,  the  Codex  Alexandri- 
nus,  the  Codex  Ephrsemi,  and  the  Codex  Bezae.  It  is  to  be  found  in  by  far 
the  most  valuable  cursive  MS.  yet  known.  It  is  confirmed  also  by  the  early 
testimony  of  Irenseus,  and  by  the  Latin  of  the  Codex  Bezae,  a  version  more 
ancient  than  the  Vulgate,  as  well  as  by  the  Vulgate  itself  It  is  likewise 
the  original  reading  of  the  Codex  Sinaiticus — the  uncial  MS.  recently  brought 
to  light  by  Dr.  Tischendorf,  and,  as  it  would  appear,  the  most  ancient  and 
valuable  in  existence.  Dr.  Tischendorf  informs  me  in  a  letter,  dated  Leip- 
sic,  15th  August,  i860,  that  in  this  MS.  a  later  hand  has  inserted  naX  ol 
before  u6EA(pol.  The  reading  given  above  may  now,  therefore,  be  considered 
as  conclusively  established.  The  reading  in  the  texius  receptics  may  be  ac- 
counted for  by  the  growth  of  the  doctrine  of  apostolical  succession  ;  as, 
when  the  hierarchy  was  in  its  glory,  transcribers  could  not  understand  ho\V 
the  apostles  and  elders  could  be  fellow-presbyters. 


•^6  THE   COUNCIL   OF  JERUSALEM. 

of  Christians  at  Jerusalem,  but  the  apostles  and  elders,  this 
reading,  now  recognized  as  genuine  by  the  highest  critical  au- 
thorities, is  sustained  by  the  whole  tenor  of  the  narrative. 
The  same  parties  who  "  came  together  to  consider  of  this 
matter "  also  framed  the  decree.  The  apostles  and  elders, 
brethren,  were  the  only  individuals  officially  concerned  in  this 
important  transaction.' 

In  this  council  the  apostles  acted,  not  as  men  oracularly 
pronouncing  the  will  of  the  Eternal,  but  as  ordinary  church 
rulers,  proceeding,  after  careful  inquiry,  to  adopt  the  sugges- 
tions of  an  enlightened  judgment.  One  passage  of  the  Syn- 
odical  epistle  has  been  supposed  to  countenance  a  different 
conclusion,  for  those  assembled  "  to  consider  of  this  matter  " 
are  represented  as  saying  to  the  Syrian  and  Cilician  Churches, 
"  //  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us  to  lay  upon  you 
no  greater  burden  "  ^  than  the  restrictions  which  are  presently 
enumerated.  But  it  is  to  be  observed  that  this  is  the  lan- 
guage of  "  the  elders,  brethren,"  as  well  as  of  the  apostles,  so 
that  it  was  used  by  many  who  made  no  pretensions  to  inspira- 
tion ;  and  it  is  apparent  from  the  context  that  the  council 
here  merely  reproduces  an  argument  against  the  Judaizers 
which  had  been  always  felt  to  be  irresistible.  The  Gentiles 
had  received  the  Spirit  "  by  the  hearing  of  faith,"  '  and  not  by 
the  ordinance  of  circumscision ;  and  hence  it  was  contended 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  himself  had  decided  the  question.  Peter, 
therefore,  says  to  the  meeting  held  at  Jerusalem,  "God, 
which  knoweth  the  hearts,  bare  them  witness,  giving  them 
the  Holy  Ghost,  even  as  he  did  unto  us ;  and  put  no  difference 
between  us  and  them,  purifying  their  hearts  by  faith.  Now, 
therefore,  zvhy  tempt  ye  God,  to  put  a  yoke  upon  the  neck  of 
the  disciples,  which  neither  our  fathers,  nor  we,  were  able  to 
bear?"*  He  had  employed  the  same  reasoning  long  before, 
in  defence  of  the  baptism  of  Cornelius  and  his  friends.  "The 
Ho'y  Ghost,"  said  he,  "  fell  on  them Forasmuch,  then, 

'  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  Peter,  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  afterward, 
speaks  in  the  style  here  indicated.  Thus  he  says,  "  The  ciders  which  are 
among  you,  I  exhort,  who  am  also  an  elder  "  {avuKjnaii'vTfixx^ — (i  IVt.  v.  i.) 

"  Acts  XV.  28.  '  Gal.  iii.  2.  *  Acts  xv.  8-io. 


THE   COUNCIL   OF  JERUSALEM.  *]>] 

as  God  gave  them  the  like  gift  as  he  did  unto  us,  who  believed 
on  the  Lord  Jesus  Q\\x\'~X,  ivhat  was  I  that  I  could  tvitJistand 
God? "  '  When,  then,  the  members  of  the  council  here  de- 
clared, "  It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us,"  '  they 
thus  simply  intimated  that  they  were  shut  up  to  the  arrange- 
ment which  they  now  announced — that  God  himself,  by  im- 
parting His  Spirit  to  those  who  had  not  received  the  rite  of 
circumcision,  had  already  settled  the  controversy — and  that, 
as  it  had  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  not  to  impose  the 
ceremonial  law  upon  the  Gentiles,  so  it  also  seemed  good  to 
"  the  apostles  and  elders,  brethren." 

But  whilst  the  abundant  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  on  the 
Gentiles  demonstrated  that  they  were  sanctified  and  saved 
without  circumcision,  and  whilst  the  Most  High  had  thus  pro- 
claimed their  freedom  from  the  yoke  of  the  Jewish  ritual,  it 
is  plain  that,  in  regard  to  this  point,  as  well  as  other  matters 
noticed  in  the  letter,  the  writers  speak  as  the  accredited  inter- 
preters of  the  will  of  Jehovah.  They  state  that  it  seemed 
good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  them  to  require  the  converts 
from  paganism  "  to  abstain  from  meats  offered  to  idols,  and 
from  blood,  and  from  things  strangled,  and  from  fornication."  ' 
And  yet,  without  any  special  revelation,  they  might  have  felt 
themselves  warranted  to  give  such  instructions  in  such  lan- 
guage, for  surely  they  were  at  liberty  to  say  that  tjie  Holy 
Ghost  had  interdicted  fornication;  and,  as  the  expounders  of 
the  doctrine  of  Christian  expediency,*  their  views  may  have 
been  so  clear  that  they  could  speak  with  equal  confidence  as 
to  the  duty  of  the  disciples  under  present  circumstances  to 
abstain  from  blood,  and  from  things  strangled,  and  from 
meats  offered  to  idols.  If  they  possessed  "  the  full  assurance 
of  understanding "  as  to  the  course-  to  be  pursued,  they 
deemed  it  right  to  signify  to  their  correspondents  that  the 
decision  which  they  now  promulgated  was,  not  any  arbitrary 
or  hasty  deliverance,   but   the   very  *'  mind    of   the  Spirit " 

*  Acts  xi.  15,  17. 

"^  This  style  of  speaking  was  used  by  councils  in  after-ages,  and  often  in 
cases  when  it  was  singularly  inappropriate. 

'  Acts  XV.  29.  ^  See  i  Cor.  x.  23,  31,  32. 


78  THE   COUNCIL   OF  JERUSALEM. 

either  expressly  communicated  in  the  Word,  or  deduced  from 
it  by  good  and  necessary  inference.  In  this  way  they  aimed 
to  reach  the  conscience,  and  they  knew  that  they  thus  fur- 
nished the  most  potential  argument  for  submission. 

It  may  at  first  sight  appear  strange  that  whilst  the  apostles, 
and  those  who  acted  with  them  at  this  meeting,  condemned 
the  doctrine  of  the  Judaizers,  and  affirmed  that  circumcision 
was  not  obligatory  on  the  Gentiles,  they,  at  the  same  time, 
required  the  converts  from  paganism  to  observe  a  part  of  the 
Hebrew  ritual ;  and  it  may  seem  quite  as  extraordinary  that, 
in  a  letter  which  was  the  fruit  of  so  much  deliberation,  they 
placed  an  immoral  act,  and  a  number  of  merely  ceremonial 
usages,  in  the  same  catalogue.  But,  on  reflection,  we  may 
recognize  their  tact  and  Christian  prudence  in  these  features 
of  their  communication.  Fornication  was  one  of  the  crying 
sins  of  Gentilism,  and,  except  when  it  interfered  with  social 
arrangements,  the  heathen  did  not  even  acknowledge  its  crim- 
inality. When,  therefore,  the  new  converts  were  furnished 
with  the  welcome  intelligence  that  they  were  not  obliged  to 
submit  to  the  painful  rite  of  circumcision,  it  was  well,  at  the 
same  time,  to  remind  them  that  there  were  lusts  of  the  flesh 
which  they  were  bound  to  mortify ;  and  it  was  expedient  that, 
whilst  a  vice  so  prevalent  as  fornication  should  be  specified, 
they  should  be  distinctly  warned  to  beware  of  its  pollutions. 
For  another  reason  they  were  directed  to  abstain  from  "  meats 
offered  to  idols."  It  often  happened  that  what  had  been 
presented  at  the  shrine  of  a  false  god  was  afterward  exposed 
for  sale,  and  the  council  cautioned  the  disciples  against  par- 
taking of  such  food,  as  they  might  thus  appear  to  give  a 
species  of  sanction  to  idolatry,  as  well  as  tempt  weak  brethren 
to  go  a  step  further,  and  directly  countenance  the  supersti- 
tions of  the  heathen  worship.'  The  meeting  also  instructed  the 
faithful  in  Syria  and  Cilicia  to  abstain  from  "  blood  and  from 
things  strangled,"  because  the  Jewish  converts  had  been  ac- 

'  "  Since  the  eating  of  such  food,  as  Paul  expressly  teaches  (i  Cor.  x.  19, 
33),  was  not  sinful  in  itself,  and  yet  to  be  avoided  out  of  tenderness  to  those 
who  thought  it  so,  the  abstinence  here  recommended  must  be  understood  in 
the  same  manner." — Alexander  on  the  Acts,  ii.  84. 


THE   COUNCIL   OF  JERUSALEM.  79 

customed  from  infancy  to  regard  aliment  of  this  description 
with  abhorrence,  and  they  could  scarcely  be  expected  to  sit  at 
meat  with  parties  who  partook  of  such  dishes.  Though  the 
use  of  them  might  be  lawful,  it  was,  at  least  for  the  present, 
not  expedient ;  and  on  the  principle  that,  whether  we  eat,  or 
drink,  or  whatever  we  do,  we  should  do  all  to  the  glory  of 
God,  the  Gentile  converts  were  admonished  to  remove  them 
from  their  tables,  that  no  barrier  might  be  raised  against 
social  or  ecclesiastical  communion  with  their  brethren  of  the 
seed  of  Abraham. 

It  was  high  time  for  the  authoritative  settlement  of  a  ques- 
tion at  once  so  perplexing  and  so  delicate.  It  already  threat- 
ened to  create  a  schism  in  the  Church ;  and  the  agitation, 
which  had  commenced  before  the  meeting  of  the  council,  was 
not  immediately  quieted.  When  Peter  visited  Antioch  shortly 
afterward,  he  at  first  triumphed  so  far  over  his  prejudices  as 
to  sit  at  meat  with  the  converts  from  paganism  ;  but  when 
certain  sticklers  for  the  law  arrived  from  Jerusalem,  "  he  with- 
drew, and  separated  himself,  fearing  them  which  were  of  the 
circumcision."  '  The  "  decree  "  of  the  apostles  and  elders  un- 
doubtedly implied  the  lawfulness  of  eating  with  the  Gentiles, 
but  it  contained  no  express  injunction  on  the  subject,  and 
Peter,  who  was  now  about  to  "  go  unto  the  circumcision,"  * 
and  who  was,  therefore,  most  anxious  to  conciliate  the  Jews, 
may  have  pleaded  this  technical  objection  in  defence  of  his 
inconsistency.  It  is  said  that  others,  from  whom  better  things 
might  have  been  expected,  followed  his  example,  "  insomuch 
that  Barnabas  also  was  carried  away  with  their  dissimula- 
tion." '  But,  on  this  critical  occasion,  Paul  stood  firm ;  and 
his  bold  and  energetic  remonstrances  appear  to  have  had  the 
efifect  of  preventing  a  division  which  must  have  been  most 
detrimental  to  the  interests  of  infant  Christianity. 

'  Gal.  ii.  12.  "  Gal.  ii.  9.  '  Gal.  ii.  13. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    INTRODUCTION    OF    THE    GOSPEL    INTO    EUROPE,  AND 
THE   MINISTRY   OF   PAUL  AT   PHILIPPI. 


After  the  Council  of  Jerusalem,  the  Gospel  continued  it? 
prosperous  career.  When  Paul  had  remained  for  some  time 
at  Antioch,  where  he  returned  with  the  deputation,  he  set  out 
to  visit  the  Churches  of  Syria  and  Cilicia ;  and  then  travelled 
through  Lycaonia,  Galatia,  and  some  other  portions  of  Asia 
Minor.  He  was  now  directed,  by  a  vision,'  to  pass  over  into 
Greece;  and  about  the  spring  of  A.D.  52,  or  twenty-one  years 
after  the  crucifixion,  Europe  was  entered,  for  the  first  time, 
by  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  Paul  commenced  his  minis- 
try in  this  new  sphere  of  labor  by  announcing  the  great  salva- 
tion to  the  inhabitants  of  Philippi,  a  city  of  Macedonia,  and  a 
Roman  colony.* 

Nearly  a  century  before,  two  powerful  factions,  contending 
for  the  government  of  the  Roman  world,  had  converted  this 
district  into  a  theatre  of  war;  and  two  famous  battles,  which 
issued  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Republic,  had  been  fought  in 
the  neighborhood.  The  victor  had  rewarded  some  of  his 
veterans  by  giving  them  possessions  at  Philippi.  The  Chris- 
tian missionary  entered,  as  it  were,  the  suburbs  of  the  great 
metropolis  of  the  West,  when  he  made  his  appearance  in  this 
military  colony  ;  for,  it  had  the  same  privileges  as  the  towns 
of  Italy,'  and   its   inhabitants   enjoyed  the  status  of   Roman 

'  Acts  xvi.  9.  '  Acts  xvi.  12. 

*  "  The  Jus  Italicitm  raised  provincial  land  to  the  same  state  of  immu- 
nity from  taxation  which   belonged   to  land  in   Italy." — Conybeare  and 
Howson,  i.  302,  note. 
(80) 


PAUL  AT   PHILIPPI.  8 1 

citizens.  Here  he  now  originated  a  spiritual  revolution  which 
eventually  changed  the  face  of  Europe.  The  Jews  had  no 
synagogue  in  Philippi ;  but,  in  places  such  as  this,  where  their 
numbers  were  few,  they  were  wont,  on  the  Sabbath,  to  meet 
for  worship  by  the  side  of  some  river  in  which  they  could  con- 
veniently perform  their  ablutions ;  and  Paul  accordingly  re- 
paired to  the  banks  of  the  Gangitas,'  where  he  expected  to 
find  them  assembled  for  devotional  exercises.  A  small  ora- 
tory, or  house  of  prayer,  seems  to  have  been  erected  on  the 
spot ;  but  the  little  society  connected  with  it  must  have  been 
particularly  apathetic,  as  the  apostle  found  only  a  few  females 
in  attendance.  One  of  these  was,  however,  the  first-fruits  of 
his  mission  to  the  Western  continent.  Lydia,  a  native  of 
Thyatira,  and  a  seller  of  purple, — a  species  of  dye  for  which 
her  birthplace  had  acquired  celebrity, — was  the  name  of  the 
convert ;  and  though  the  Gospel  may  already  have  made  some 
progress  in  Rome,  yet  so  far  as  direct  historical  testimony  is 
concerned,  this  woman  has  the  best  claim  to  be  recognized  as 
the  mother  of  European  Christianity.  It  is  said  that  she 
"  worshipped  God," '  that  is,  though  a  Gentile,  she  had  been 
proselyted  to  the  Jewish  faith  ;  and  the  history  of  her  conver- 
sion is  given  by  the  evangelist  with  remarkable  clearness  and 
simplicity.  "  The  Lord  opened  her  heart  that  she  attended 
unto  the  things  that  were  spoken  of  Paul."  '  When  she  and 
her  family  were  baptized,  she  entreated  the  missionaries  to 
"  come  into  her  house  and  abide  there  "  during  their  sojourn 
in  the  place ;  and,  after  some  hesitation,  they  accepted  the 
proffered  hospitality. 

Another  female  acts  a  conspicuous  part  in  connection  with 
this  apostolic  visit.  "  It  came  to  pass,"  says  Luke,  "  as  we 
went  to  prayer,  a  certain  damsel  possessed  with  a  spirit  of  div- 
ination met  us,  which  brought  her  masters  much  gain  by 
soothsaying :  the  same  followed  Paul  and  us,  and  cried,  say- 
ing. These  men  are  the  servants  of  the  Most  High  God, 
which  show  unto  us  the  way  of  salvation.  And  this  did  she 
many  days."  *     Daemons  may  have  the  power  of  discerning 

'  Not  the  Strymon.     See  Conybeare  and  Howson,  i.  316. 
'  Acts  xvi.  14.  '  Acts  xvi.  14.  ^  Acts  xvi.i6-i8. 

6 


82.  PAUL   AT   PHILIPPI. 

certain  classes  of  future  events  with  the  quickness  of  intui- 
tion ;'  and  if,  as  the  Scriptures  testify,  they  have  sometimes 
entered  into  human  bodies,  we  can  well  understand  how  the 
individuals  thus  possessed  have  obtained  credit  for  divination. 
In  this  way  the  damsel  mentioned  by  the  evangelist  may  have 
acquired  her  celebrity.  We  can  not  explain  how  disembodied 
spirits  maintain  intercourse  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  they  pos- 
sess means  of  mutual  recognition,  and  that  they  can  be  im- 
pressed by  the  presence  of  higher  and  holier  intelligences. 
And  as  the  approach  of  a  mighty  conqueror  spreads  dismay 
throughout  the  territory  he  invades,  so  when  the  Son  of  God 
appeared  on  earth,  the  devils  were  troubled  at  His  presence, 
and,  in  the  agony  of  their  terror,  proclaimed  His  dignity.^ 
Some  influence  of  an  analogous  character  operated  on  this 
Pythoness.  The  arrival  of  the  missionaries  in  Philippi  alarmed 
the  powers  of  darkness,  and  the  damsel,  under  the  pressure  of 
an  impulse  which  she  found  it  impossible  to  resist,  told  their 
commission.  But  neither  the  apostles,  nor  our  Lord,  cared 
for  credentials  of  such  equivocal  value.  As  this  female  fol- 
lowed the  strangers  through  the  streets,  and  in  a  loud  voice 
announced  their  errand  to  the  city,  "  Paul  being  grieved, 
turned  and  said  to  the  Spirit,  I  command  thee,  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  to  come  out  of  her,  and  he  came  out  the  same 
hour."* 

The  unbelieving  Jews  had  hitherto  been  the  great  perse- 
cutors of  the  Church  ;  but  now,  for  the  first  time,  the  apostles 
encountered  opposition  from  another  quarter  ;  and  the  expul- 
sion of  the  spirit  from  the  damsel  evoked  the  hostility  of  this 
new  advcrssir)\  When  the  masters  of  the  Pythoness  "  saw 
that  the  hope  of  their  gains  was  gone,  they  caught  Paul  and 
Silas,  and  drew  them  into  the  market-place  unto  the  rulers."* 
We  here  discover  one  great  cause  of  the  sufferings  afterward 

'  They  may  have  perceptive  powers  of  which  we  can  form  no  conception, 
and  may  thus  discern  the  apjjroach  of  particular  events  as  distinctly  as  we 
can  now  calculate  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tides,  or  the  eclipses  of  the  sun 
and  moon. 

'  Matt.  viii.  28,  29;  Mark  i.  24,  25  ;  Luke  iv.  34,  35. 

•  Acts  xvi.  18.  *  Acts  xvi.  19. 


PAUL  AT   PHILIPPI.  83 

endured  by  the  disciples  of  our  Lord  under  the  government  of 
the  pagan  emperors.  The  Jews  were  prompted  by  mere 
bigotry  to  display  hatred  to  the  Gospel,  but  the  Gentiles  were 
generally  guided  by  the  still  more  ignoble  principle  of  selfish- 
ness. Many  of  the  heathen  multitude  cared  little  for  their 
idolatrous  worship ;  but  all  who  depended  for  subsistence  on 
the  prevalence  of  superstition,  such  as  the  image-makers,  the 
jugglers,  the  fortune-tellers,  and  a  considerable  number  of  the 
priests,'  were  dismayed  and  driven  to  desperation  by  the  prog- 
ress of  Christianity.  They  saw  that,  with  its  success,  "  the 
hope  of  their  gains  was  gone  ";  and,  under  pretence  of  zeal 
for  the  public  interest,  and  for  the  maintenance  of  the  "  law- 
ful "  ceremonies,  they  labored  to  intimidate  and  oppress  the 
adherents  of  the  new  doctrine. 

The  appearance  of  the  missionaries  at  Philippi  must  have 
created  a  profound  sensation,  as  otherwise  it  is  impossible  to 
account  for  the  tumult  which  occurred.  The  "  masters  "  of 
the  damsel  possessed  of  the  "  spirit  of  divination,"  no  doubt, 
took  the  initiatory  step  in  the  movement ;  but  had  not  the 
public  mind  been  in  some  degree  prepared  for  their  appeals, 
they  could  not  have  induced  all  classes  of  their  fellow-citizens 
so  soon  to  join  in  the  persecution.  "  The  multitude  rose  up 
together  "  at  their  call ;  the  duumviri,  or  magistrates,  rent  off 
the  clothes  of  the  apostles  with  their  own  hands,  and  com- 
manded them  to  be  scourged  ;  the  lictors  "  laid  many  stripes 
upon  them  ";  they  were  ordered  to  be  kept  in  close  confine- 
ment ;  and  the  jailer  exceeded  the  exact  letter  of  his  instruc- 
tions by  thrusting  them  ''  into  the  inner  prison,"  and  by  mak- 
ing "  their  feet  fast  in  the  stocks."  ^  The  power  of  Imperial 
Rome  arrayed  itself  against  the  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  and 
distinctly  gave  note  of  warning  of  the  approach  of  that  long 
night  of  affliction  throughout  which  the  Church  was  yet  to 
struggle. 

If  the  proceedings  of  the  missionaries,  before  their  commit- 

'  In  some  parts  of  the  empire  magistrates  and  men  of  rank  acted  gratui- 
tously, but  a  large  portion  of  the  priests  subsisted  on  the  emoluments  of 
office. 

^  Acts  xvi.  24. 


84  PAUL  AT   PHILIPPI. 

tal  to  prison,  produced  ^  ferment,  it  is  clear  that  the  circum- 
stances attending  their  incarceration  were  not  calculated  to 
abate  the  excitement.  It  soon  appeared  that  they  had  sources 
of  enjoyment  which  no  human  authority  could  either  destroy 
or  disturb  ;  for  as  they  lay  in  the  pitchy  darkness  of  their 
dungeon  with  their  feet  compressed  in  the  stocks,  their  hearts 
overflowed  with  divine  comfort.  "  At  midnight  Paul  and 
Silas  prayed,  and  sang  praises  imto  God:  and  the  prisoners 
heard  them." '  What  was  the  wonder  of  the  other  inmates  of 
the  jail,  as  these  sounds  fell  upon  their  ears  !  Instead  of  a  cry 
of  distress  issuing  from  "  the  inner  prison,"  there  was  the 
cheerful  voice  of  thanksgiving !  The  apostles  rejoiced  that 
they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer  in  the  service  of  Christ. 
The  King  of  the  Church  sympathized  with  His  oppressed 
saints,  and  speedily  vouchsafed  to  them  most  wonderful 
tokens  of  encouragement.  Scarcely  had  they  finished  their 
song  of  praise  when  it  was  answered  by  a  very  significant  re- 
sponse, proclaiming  that  they  were  supported  by  a  power 
which  could  crush  the  might  of  Rome.  "  Suddenly  there  was 
a  great  earthquake,  so  that  the  foundations  of  the  prison  were 
shaken,  and  immediately  all  the  doors  were  opened,  and  every 
one's  bands  were  loosed." 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  mind  of  the  jailer  had  already 
been  ill  at  ease.  He  must  have  heard  of  the  extraordinary 
history  of  the  damsel  with  the  spirit  of  divination  who  an- 
nounced that  his  prisoners  were  the  servants  of  the  Most  High 
God,  and  that  they  showed  unto  men  the  way  of  salvation. 
Rumor  had  supplied  him  with  some  information  in  reference 
to  their  doctrines  ;  and  during  even  his  short  intercourse  with 
Paul  and  Silas  in  the  jail,  he  may  have  been  impressed  by 
much  that  he  noticed  in  their  spirit  and  deportment.  But  he 
had  meanwhile  gone  to  rest,  and  he  remained  asleep  until 
roused  by  the  noise  and  tremor  of  the  earthquake.  When  he 
awoke  and  saw  "  the  prison  doors  open,"  he  was  in  a  paroxysm 
of  alarm  ;  and  concluding  that  the  prisoners  had  escaped,  and 
that  he  might  expect  to  be  punished  capitally  for  neglect  of 
duty,  he  resolved  to  anticipate  such  a  fate,  and  snatched  his 

'  Acts  xvi.  25.  '  Acts  xvi.  26. 


PAUL  AT   PHILIPPI.  85 

sword  to  commit  suicide.  At  this  moment,  a  voice  issuing 
from  the  dungeon  where  the  missionaries  were  confined,  dis- 
pelled his  fears  as  to  the  prisoners,  and  arrested  him  almost  in 
the  very  act  of  self-murder.  "  Paul  cried  with  a  loud  voice, 
saying.  Do  thyself  no  harm,  for  we  are  all  here."  '  These 
words  instantaneously  directed  the  thoughts  of  the  unhappy 
man  into  another  channel,  and  awakened  feelings  which  had 
hitherto  been  comparatively  dormant.  The  conviction  flashed 
upon  his  conscience  that  the  strangers  whom  he  had  so  re- 
cently thrust  into  the  inner  prison  were  no  impostors  ;  that 
they  had,  as  they  alleged,  authority  to  treat  of  matters  infi- 
nitely more  important  than  any  of  the  passing  interests  of 
time  ;  that  they  had,  verily,  a  commission  from  Heaven  to 
teach  the  way  of  eternal  salvation  ;  and  that  he  and  others, 
who  had  taken  part  in  their  imprisonment,  had  acted  most 
iniquitously.  For  what  could  be  more  evident  than  that  the 
apostles  were  the  servants  of  the  Most  High  God  ?  When 
everything  around  them  was  enveloped  in  the  gloom  of  mid- 
night, they  were  able  to  tell  what  was  passing  all  over  the 
prison.  How  strange  that,  when  the  jailer  was  about  to  kill 
himself,  a  voice  should  issue  from  a  different  apartment,  say- 
ing, "  Do  thyself  no  harm  !  "  How  strange  that  the  very  man 
whose  feet,  a  few  hours  before,  had  been  made  fast  in  the 
stocks,  should  be  the  giver  of  this  friendly  counsel !  And 
how  extraordinary  that,  during  the  very  first  night  of  his  im- 
prisonment, the  bands  of  all  the  inmates  were  loosed,  and  that 
the  building  was  made  to  rock  to  its  foundations  !  Did  not 
the  earthquake  indicate  that  He,  whom  the  apostles  served, 
was  able  to  save  and  to  destroy?  When  the  jailer  thought  on 
these  things,  well  might  he  be  paralyzed  with  fear,  and  be- 
lieving that  the  apostles  alone  could  tell  him  how  to  obtain 
relief  from  the  anxiety  which  oppressed  his  spirit,  no  wonder 
that  "  he  called  for  a  light,  and  sprang  in,  and  came  trembling, 

'  Acts  xvi.  28.  "  By  a  singular  historical  coincidence,  this  very  city  ot 
Philippi,  or  its  neighborhood,  had  been  signaHzed  within  a  hundred  years, 
not  only  by  the  great  defeat  of  Brutus  and  Cassius,  but  by  the  suicide  of 
both,  and  by  a  sort  of  wholesale  self-destruction  on  the  part  of  their  adher- 
ents."— Alexander  on  the  Acts,  ii.  122,  123. 


86  PAUL  AT   PHILIPPI. 

and  fell  down  before  Paul  and  Silas,  and  brought  them  out, 
and  said,  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  ' 

The  missionaries  were  prepared  with  a  decisive  reply  to  this 
earnest  inquiry,  and  no  doubt  their  answer  took  the  jailer  by 
surprise.  He  expected  to  be  called  upon  to  do  something, 
either  to  propitiate  the  apostles  themselves,  or  to  turn  away 
the  wrath  of  the  God  of  the  apostles.  It  is  obvious,  from  the 
spirit  which  he  manifested,  that,  to  obtain  peace  of  conscience, 
he  was  ready  to  go  very  far  in  the  way  of  self-sacrifice — to 
part  with  his  property,  or  to  imperil  his  life,  or,  perhaps,  to 
give  "  the  fruit  of  his  body  for  the  sin  of  his  soul."  What, 
then,  was  his  astonishment  when  he  found  that  the  divine 
mercy  so  far  transcended  anything  he  could  have  possibly  an- 
ticipated !  With  what  satisfaction  did  he  listen  to  the  assur- 
ance that  an  atonement  had  already  been  made,  and  that  the 
sinner  is  safe  as  soon  as  he  lays  the  hand  of  faith  on  the  head 
of  the  great  Sacrifice  !  What  was  his  delight  when  informed 
that  unbelief  alone  could  shut  him  out  from  heaven  ;  that  the 
Son  of  God  had  died,  the  just  for  the  unjust  ;  and  that  this 
almighty  Saviour  waited  to  be  gracious  to — himself !  How 
must  the  words  of  the  apostles  have  thrilled  through  his  soul, 
as  he  heard  them  repeating  the  invitation,  "  Believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,  and  thy  house." ' 

The  jailer  joyfully  accepted  the  proffered  Deliverer;  and 
felt  that,  resting  on  this  Rock  of  Salvation,  he  had  peace. 
Though  well  aware  that,  by  openly  embracing  the  Gospel,  he 
exposed  himself  to  considerable  danger,  he  did  not  shrink 
from  the  position  of  a  confessor.  The  love  of  Christ  had  ob- 
tained full  possession  of  his  soul,  and  he  was  quite  prepared  to 
suffer  in  the  service  of  his  Divine  Master.  He  took  Paul  and 
Silas  "  the  same  hour  of  the  night,  and  washed  their  stripes, 
and  was  baptized,  he  and  all  his,  straightway  ;  and  when  he 
had  brought  them  into  his  house,  he  set  meat  before  them, 
and  rejoiced,  believing  in  God,  with  all  his  house."  ' 

It  is  highly  probable  that  the  shock  of  the  earthquake  was 
felt  beyond  the  precincts  of  the  jail,  and  that  the  events  which 

'  Acts  xvi.  29.  30.  «  Acts  xvi.  31.  » Acts  xvi.  33,  34, 


PAUL  AT   PHILIPPI.  87 

had  occurred  there  had  soon  been  communicated  to  the  city 
authorities.  We  can  thus  best  account  for  the  fact  that 
"  when  it  was  day,  the  magistrates  sent  the  sergeants,  saying, 
Let  those  men  go."  *  As  it  is  not  stated  that  the  apostles  had 
previously  entered  into  any  vindication  of  their  conduct,  it 
has  been  thought  singular  that  they  declined  to  leave  the 
prison  without  receiving  an  apology  for  the  violation  of  their 
privileges  as  Roman  citizens.  But  this  matter  presents  no 
real  difficulty.  The  magistrates  had  yielded  to  the  clamor  of 
an  infuriated  mob  ;  and,  instead  of  giving  Paul  and  Silas  a  fair 
opportunity  of  defence  or  explanation,  had  summarily  con- 
signed them  to  the  custody  of  the  jailer.  These  functionaries 
were  now  prepared  to  listen  to  remonstrance ;  and  Paul  deemed 
it  due  to  himself,  and  to  the  interests  of  the  Christian  Church, 
to  complain  of  the  illegal  character  of  the  proceedings  from 
which  he  had  suffered.  He  had  been  punished,  without  a 
trial ;  and  scourged,  though  a  Roman  citizen.^  Hence,  when 
informed  that  the  duumviri  had  given  orders  for  the  liberation 
of  himself  and  his  companion,  the  apostle  exclaimed  :  ''  They 
have  beaten  us  openly  uncondemned,  being  Romans,  and  have 
cast  us  into  prison,  and  now  do  they  thrust  us  out  privily  ? 
Nay,  verily,  but  let  them  come  themselves,  and  fetch  us  out."  * 
These  words,  which  were  immediately  reported  by  the  sergeants, 
or  lictors,  inspired  the  magistrates  with  apprehension,  and  sug- 
gested to  them  the  expediency  of  conciliation.  "And  they 
came  "  to  the  prison  to  the  apostles,  "  and  besought  them,  and 
brought  them  out,  and  desired  them  to  depart  out  of  the 
city."  *  The  missionaries  did  not,  however,  leave  Philippi 
until  they  had  another  opportunity  of  meeting  with  their  con- 
verts. "  They  went  out  of  the  prison,  and  entered  into  the 
house  of  Lydia,  and  when  they  had  seen  the  brethren,  they 
comforted  them  and  departed."  ^ 

'  Acts  xvi.  35. 

"^  Paul  says  that  he  was  "  free  bom  "  (Acts  xxii.  28).  It  was  unlawful  to 
scourge  a  Roman  citizen,  or  even,  except  in  extraordinary  cases,  to  im- 
prison him  without  trial.  He  had  also  the  privilege  of  appeal  to  the  Em- 
peror. 

'  Acts  xvi,  37.  *  Acts  xvi.  39.  ^  Acts  xvi.  40. 


88  PAUL  AT   PHILIPPI. 

On  the  whole,  Paul  and  Silas  had  reason  to  thank  God  and 
take  courage,  when  they  reviewed  their  progress  in  the  first 
European  city  which  they  visited.  Though  they  had  met 
with  much  opposition,  their  ministry  had  been  greatly  blessed  ; 
and,  in  the  end,  the  magistrates,  who  had  treated  them  with 
such  severity,  had  felt  it  necessary  to  apologize.  The  extra- 
ordinary circumstances  accompanying  their  imprisonment  had 
made  their  case  known  to  the  whole  body  of  the  citizens,  and 
secured  a  degree  of  attention  to  their  preaching  which  could 
not  have  been  otherwise  expected.  The  Church,  now  estab- 
lished at  Philippi,  contained  a  number  of  most  generous  mem- 
bers, and  Paul  afterward  gratefully  acknowledged  the  assist- 
ance he  received  from  them.  "  Ye  have  well  done,"  said 
he,  ''  that  ye  did  communicate  with  my  afifliction.  Now,  ye 
Philippians,  know  also,  that  in  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel, 
when  I  departed  from  Macedonia,  no  church  communicated 
with  me,  as  concerning  giving  and  receiving,  but  ye  only. 
For,  even  in  Thessalonica,  ye  sent  once  and  again  unto  my 
necessity."  ' 

'  Phil.  iv.  14-16. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   MINISTRY  OF   PAUL   IN  THESSALONICA,  BEREA,  ATHENS, 
AND   CORINTH. 

A.D.    52   TO   A.D.    54. 

After  leaving  Philippi,  and  passing  through  Amphipolis 
and  ApoUonia,  Paul  made  his  way  to  Thessalonica.  In  this 
city  there  was  a  Jewish  synagogue  where  he  was  permitted,  for 
three  successive  Sabbaths,  to  address  the  congregation.  His 
discourses  produced  a  powerful  impression  ;  as  some  of  the 
seed  of  Abraham  believed,  "  and,  of  the  devout  Greeks,  a  great 
multitude,  and  of  the  chief  women,  not  a  few."^  The  unbe- 
lieving Jews  attempted  to  create  annoyance  by  representing 
the  missionaries  as  acting  "  contrary  to  the  decrees  of  Caesar, 
saying,  that  there  is  another  king,  one  Jesus 'V  but  though 
they  contrived  to  trouble  "  the  rulers  "  '  and  to  "  set  all  the  city 
in  an  uproar,"  they  did  not  succeed  in  preventing  the  formation 
of  a  flourishing  Christian  community.  Paul  appeared  next  in 
Berea,  and,  when  reporting  his  success  here,  the  sacred  his- 
torian bears  a  remarkable  testimony  to  the  right  of  the  laity 

'  Acts  xvii.  4.  ^  Acts  xvii.  7. 

'  Acts  xvii.  8,  krapa^av — rovg  Tzalaapxag.  The  name  here  given  to  the 
magistrates  {politarchs),  does  not  occur  in  ancient  literature  ;  but  a  Greek 
inscription,  on  an  arch  still  to  be  seen  at  this  place,  demonstrates  the  ac- 
curacy of  the  sacred  historian.  This  arch  supplies  evidence  that  it  was 
erected  about  the  time  when  the  Republic  was  passing  into  the  Empire, 
and  that  it  was  in  existence  when  Paul  preached  there.  It  appears  from  it 
that  the  magistrates  of  Thessalonica  were  called  politarchs,  and  that  they 
were  seven  in  number.  What  is  almost  equally  striking  is  that  three  of  the 
names  in  the  inscription  are  Sopater,  Gaius,  and  Sccundus,  the  same  as 
those  of  three  of  Paul's  friends  in  this  district.  Conybeare  and  Howson, 
i.  360. 

(89) 


go  PAUL   AT   ATHENS. 

to  judge  for  themselves  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  Book  of  In- 
spiration ;  for  he  states  that  the  Jews  of  this  place  "  were  more 
noble  than  those  in  Thessalonica,  in  that  they  received  the  word 
with  all  readiness  of  mind,  and  searched  the  Scriptures  daily  "  ' 
to  ascertain  the  truth  of  the  apostolic  doctrine.  Paul  was  now 
"  sent  to  go  as  it  were  to  the  sea,"  and  soon  afterward  arrived 
at  Athens. 

The  ancient  capital  of  Attica  had  long  been  the  literary 
metropolis  of  heathendom.  Its  citizens  could  boast  that  they 
were  sprung  from  a  race  of  heroes ;  as  their  forefathers  had 
nobly  struggled  for  freedom  on  many  a  bloody  battle-field, 
and,  by  prodigies  of  valor,  had  maintained  their  independence 
against  all  the  might  of  Persia.  Minerva,  the  goddess  of  wis- 
dom, was  their  tutelary  deity.  The  Athenians,  from  time  im- 
memorial, had  been  noted  for  their  intellectual  elevation ;  and 
a  brilliant  array  of  poets,  legislators,  historians,  philosophers, 
and  orators  had  crowned  their  community  with  immortal 
fame.  Every  spot  connected  with  their  city  was  classic 
ground.  Here  it  was  that  Socrates  had  discoursed  so  sagely ; 
that  Plato  had  illustrated,  with  so  much  felicity  and  genius, 
the  precepts  of  his  great  master ;  and  that  Demosthenes,  by 
addresses  of  unrivalled  eloquence,  had  roused  and  agitated 
the  assemblies  of  his  countrymen.  As  the  stranger  passed 
through  Athens,  artistic  productions  of  superior  excellence 
everywhere  met  his  eye.  Its  statues,  its  public  monuments, 
and  its  temples  were  models  alike  of  tasteful  design  and  of 
beautiful  workmanship.  But  there  may  be  much  intellectual 
culture  where  there  is  no  spiritual  enlightenment,  and  Athens, 
though  so  far  advanced  in  civilization  and  refinement,  was  one 
of  the  high  places  of  pagan  superstition.  Amidst  the  splendor 
of  its  architectural  decorations,  as  well  as  surrounded  with 
proofs  of  its  scientific  and  literary  eminence,  the  apostle 
mourned  over  its  religious  destitution,  and  "  his  spirit  was 
stirred  in  him  when  he  saw  the  city  wholly  given  to  idolatry."' 

On  this  new  scene  Paul  exhibited  his  usual  activity  and 
earnestness.     "  He  disputed  in  the  synagogue  with  the  Jews, 

■  Acts  xvii.  1 1.  "  Acts  xvii.  i6. 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 


91 


and  with  the  devout  persons,  and  in  the  market  daily  with 
them  that  met  with  him."'  The  Christian  preacher  soon  be- 
came an  object  of  no  Httle  curiosity.  He  was  of  diminutive 
stature  ; '  he  labored  under  the  disadvantages  of  imperfect  vis- 
ion ; '  and  his  Palestinian  Greek  sounded  harshly  in  the  ears 
of  those  who  were  accustomed  to  speak  their  mother  tongue 
in  its  Attic  purity.  But,  though  his  "  bodily  presence  was 
weak,"^  he  speedily  convinced  those  who  came  in  contact  with 
him,  that  the  frail  earthly  tabernacle  was  the  habitation  of  a 
master  mind ;  and  though  mere  connoisseurs  in  idioms  and 
pronunciation  might  designate  "his  speech  contemptible,"^ 
he  riveted  the  attention  of  his  hearers  by  the  force  and  im- 
pressiveness  of  his  oratory.  The  presence  of  this  extraordi- 
nary stranger  did  not  remain  long  unknown  to  the  Athenian 
literati ;  but,  when  they  entered  into  conversation  with  him, 
some  of  them  attempted  to  ridicule  him  as  an  idle  talker, 
whilst  others  were  inclined  to  denounce  him  as  a  dangerous 
innovator.  "  Certain  philosophers  of  the  Epicureans  and  of 
the  Stoics  encountered  him  ;  and  some  said.  What  will  this 
babbler  say?  other  some.  He  seemeth  to  be  a  setter  forth  of 
strange  gods,  because  he  preached  unto  them  Jesus  and  the 
resurrection."  °  Upwards  of  four  hundred  years  before,  Soc- 
rates had  been  condemned  to  death  by  the  Athenians  as  "  a 
setter  forth  of  strange  gods,"'  and  perhaps  some  of  these 
philosophers  hoped  to  intimidate  the  apostle  by  hinting  that 
he  was  open  to  the  same  indictment.  But  they  could  not  have 
seriously  contemplated  a  prosecution,  as  they  had  themselves 
no  faith  in  the  pagan  mythology.  They  were  quite  ready  to 
employ  their  wit  to  turn  the  heathen  worship  into  scorn  ;  and 
yet  they  were  unable  to  point  out  a  "more  excellent  way"  of 
religious  service.  In  Athens,  philosophy  had  demonstrated  its 
utter  impotence  to  do  anything  effective  for  the  reformation 

'  Acts  xvii.  17,  *  See  Conybeare  and  Howson,  i.  241. 

^  See  Alford  on  Acts  xiii.  9,  and  xxiii.  i.  In  a  recent  publication — Dr. 
Brown's  Horoe  Siibsecivce,  p.  loi — the  reader  will  find  some  exceedingly 
ingenious  observations  on  this  subject. 

*  2  Cor.  x.  10.  '  2  Cor.  x,  10.  « Acts  xvii.  18. 

''  'AdiKfiZ  IiUKpuTTjg srepa  6e  aaiva  daijiovia  dacpepuv. — Xefi.  A/em.  i,  1. 


92  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

of  the  popular  theology ;  and  its  professors  had  settled  down 
into  the  conviction  that,  as  the  current  superstition  exercised 
an  immense  influence  over  the  minds  of  the  multitude,  it  was 
inexpedient  for  wise  men  to  withhold  from  it  the  tribute  of 
outward  reverence.  The  discourses  of  Paul  were  very  far  from 
complimentary  to  parties  who  valued  themselves  so  highly  on 
their  intellectual  advancement ;  for  he  quietly  ignored  all  their 
speculations  as  so  much  folly ;  and,  whilst  he  propounded  his 
own  system  with  the  utmost  confidence,  he  supported  it  by 
arguments  which  they  were  determined  to  reject,  but  unable 
to  overturn.  It  is  clear  that  they  were  to  some  extent  under 
the  influence  of  pique  and  irritation  when  they  noticed  his 
deviations  from  the  established  faith,  and  applied  to  him  the 
epithet  of  "babbler";  but  Paul  was  not  the  man  to  be  put 
down  either  by  irony  or  insult  ;  and  at  length  it  was  found 
necessary  to  allow  him  a  fair  opportunity  of  explaining  his 
principles.  It  is  accordingly  stated  that  "  they  took  him  and 
brought  him  unto  Mars'  Hill,  saying,  May  we  know  what  this 
new  doctrine,  whereof  thou  speakest,  is,  for  thou  bringest  cer- 
tain strange  things  to  our  ears?  we  would  know,  therefore, 
what  these  things  mean,"  ' 

The  speech  delivered  by  Paul  on  this  memorable  occasion 
has  been  often  admired  for  its  tact,  vigor,  depth,  and  fidelity. 
Whilst  giving  the  Athenians  full  credit  for  their  devotional 
feeling,  and  avoiding  any  pointed  and  sarcastic  attack  on  the 
absurdities  of  their  religious  ritual,  he  contrives  to  present 
such  an  outline  of  the  prominent  features  of  the  Christian  rev- 
elation, as  must  have  convinced  any  candid  and  intelligent  au- 
ditor of  its  incomparable  superiority,  as  well  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  philosophers  as  to  the  fables  of  heathenism.  In  the 
very  commencement  of  his  observations  he  displays  no  little 
address.  "  Ye  men  of  Athens,"  said  he,  "  I  perceive  that  in 
every  point  of  view  ye  are  carrying  your  religious  reverence 
very  far;  for,  as  I  passed  by  and  observed  the  objects  of  your 
worship.  I  found  an  altar  with  this  inscription :  To  the  un- 
known God — whom,  therefore,  ye  worship,  though  ye  know 

'  Acts  xvii.  19,  20,  It  is  very  evident  that  he  was  not  arraigned  before 
the  court  of  Areopagus,  as  our  English  translation  indicates. 


PAUL  AT   ATHENS.  93 

him  not,  him  declare  I  unto  you." '  The  existence  in  this 
city  of  inscriptions,  such  as  that  here  given,  is  attested  by  sev- 
eral other  ancient  witnesses "  as  well  as  Paul ;  and  the  altars 
thus  distinguished  were  erected  when  the  place  was  afflicted 
by  certain  strange  and  unprecedented  calamities  which  the 
deities,  already  recognized,  were  admitted  to  be  unable  to  re- 
move. The  auditors  of  the  apostle  could  not  well  be  dissatis- 
fied with  the  statement  that  they  carried  their  "  religious  rev- 
erence very  far,"  and  yet  they  were  scarcely  prepared  for  the 
reference  to  this  altar  by  which  the  observation  was  illustra- 
ted ;  for  the  inscription  which  he  quoted  contained  a  most 
humiliating  confession  of  their  ignorance,  and  furnished  him 
with  an  excellent  apology  for  proposing  to  act  as  their  theo- 
logical instructor. 

His  discourse,  which  treats  of  the  Being  and  Attributes  of 
God,  was  well  fitted  to  win  the  attention  of  the  polite  and  in- 
telligent Athenians.  Its  reasoning  is  plain,  pertinent,  and 
powerful ;  and,  whilst  adopting  a  didactic  tone  and  avoiding 
the  language  and  spirit  of  controversy,  the  apostle  in  every 
sentence  comes  into  direct  collision  either  with  the  errors  of 
polytheism  or  the  dogmas  of  the  Grecian  philosophy.  The 
Stoics  were  Pantheists  and  held  the  doctrine  of  the  eternity 
of  matter; '  the  Epicureans  maintained  that  the  universe  arose 
out  of  a  fortuitous  concurrence  of  atoms ; "  and,  therefore, 
Paul  announced  his  opposition  to  both  these  sects  when  he 
declared  that  "  God  made  the  world  and  all  things  therein."  ' 
The  Athenians  boasted  that  they  were  of  nobler  descent  than 
the  rest  of  their  countrymen;"  and  the  heathen  generally  be- 

'  Acts  xvii.  22,  23.  This  translation  obviously  conveys  the  meaning  of 
the  original  more  distinctly  than  our  English  version.  See  Alford,  ii.  178; 
and  Conybeare  and  Howson,  i.  406. 

Mt  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  impostor  Apollonius,  of  Tyana,  who  was  the 
contemporary  of  the  apostle,  speaks  of  Athens  as  a  place  "  where  altars  are 
raised  to  the  rcnknow7t  Gods."  "  Life,"  by  Philostratus,  book  vi.,  c.  3.  See 
also  Pausanias,  Attic,  i.  4. 

'  See  Cudworth's  "  Intellectual  System,"  with  Notes  by  Mosheim,  i.  513, 
III.     Edition,  London,  1845. 

*  See  Mosheim's  "  Commentaries  on  the  Affairs  of  the  Christians  before 
Constantine,"  by  Vidal,  i.  42. 

^  Acts  xvii.  24.  *  See  Alford  on  Acts  xvii.  26. 


94  PAUL   AT   ATHENS. 

lieved  that  each  nation  belonged  to  a  distinct  stock  and  was 
under  the  guardianship  of  its  own  pecuHar  deities ;  but  the 
apostle  afifirmed  that  "  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations 
of  men  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth." '  The  Epicure- 
ans asserted  that  the  gods  did  not  interfere  in  the  concerns  of 
the  human  family,  and  that  they  were  destitute  of  foreknowl- 
edge;  but  Paul  here  assured  them  that  the  great  Creator 
"  giveth  to  all  life  and  breath  and  all  things,"  and  "  hath  de- 
termined the  times  before  appointed  and  the  bounds  of  their 
habitation."^  The  heathen  imagined  that  the  gods  inhabited 
their  images ;  but,  whilst  Paul  was  ready  to  acknowledge  the 
excellence  as  works  of  art  of  the  statues  which  he  saw  all 
around  him,  he  distinctly  intimated  that  these  dead  pieces  of 
material  mechanism  could  never  even  faintly  represent  the 
glory  of  the  invisible  First  Cause,  and  that  they  were  unwor- 
thy the  homage  of  living  and  intellectual  beings.  "  As  we 
are  the  offspring  of  God,"  said  he,  "we  ought  not  to  think 
that  the  Godhead  is  like  unto  gold  or  silver  or  stone,  graven 
by  art  and  man's  device." '  After  having  thus  borne  testi- 
mony to  the  spirituality  of  the  I  AM  THAT  I  AM,  and  as- 
serted His  authority  as  the  Maker  and  Preserver  of  the  world, 
Paul  proceeded  to  point  out  His  claims  as  its  righteous  Gov- 
ernor. "  He  hath  appointed  a  day,  in  the  which  he  will  judge 
the  world  in  righteousness  by  that  man  whom  he  hath  or- 
dained, whereof  he  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men  in  that 
he  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead." ' 

The  pleasure-loving  Epicureans  refused  to  believe  in  a  fut- 
ure state  of  rewards  and  punishments,  and  concurred  with  the 
Stoics  in  denying  the  immortality  of  the  soul.'  Both  these 
parties  were  prepared  to  reject  the  doctrine  of  a  general  judg- 
ment. The  idea  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  was  quite 
novel  to  almost  all  classes  of  the  Gentiles ;  and,  when  at  first 
propounded  to  the  Athenians,  was  received  by  many  with 
doubt  and  by  some  with  ridicule.     "  When  they  heard  of  the 

'  Acts  xvii.  26.  '•'  Acts  xvii.  25,  26. 

"  Acts  xvii.  29.  *  Acts  xvii.  31. 

'  Cudworth,  with  Notes  by  Mosheim,  ii.  120,  and  Mosheim's  "Commen- 
taries," by  Vidal,  i.  42. 


PAUL  AT   CORINTH.  95 

resurrection  of  the  dead,  some  mocked  and  others  said,  We 
will  hear  thee  again  of  this  matter.  So  Paul  departed  from 
among  them." ' 

The  frivolous  spirit  cherished  by  the  citizens  of  the  ancient 
capital  of  Attica  was  exceedingly  unfavorable  to  the  progress 
of  the  earnest  faith  of  Christianity.  "  All  the  Athenians,  and 
strangers  which  were  there,  spent  their  time  in  nothing  else 
but  either  to  tell  or  to  hear  some  new  thing."  °  Though  they 
had  acquired  a  world-wide  reputation  for  literary  culture,  their 
city  continued  for  several  centuries  afterward  to  be  one  of  the 
strongholds  of  Gentile  superstition.  But  the  labors  of  Paul 
were  not  entirely  unproductive.  "  Certain  men  clave  unto 
him  and  believed,  among  the  which  was  Dionysius  the  Areop- 
agite,  and  a  woman  named  Damaris,  and  others  with  them."  ^ 
The  court  of  Areopagus,  long  the  highest  judicial  tribunal  in 
the  place,  had  not  even  yet  'entirely  lost  its  celebrity ;  and  the 
circumstance  that  Dionysius  was  connected  with  it  is  a  proof 
that  this  Christian  convert  was  a  respectable  and  influential 
citizen.  He  occupied  a  very  high  place  among  the  primitive 
disciples,  and  the  number  of  spurious  writings  ascribed  to  him* 
show  that  his  name  was  deemed  a  tower  of  strength  to  the 
cause  with  which  it  was  associated.  He  was  long  at  the  head 
of  the  Athenian  presbyteiy,  and  survived  his  conversion  forty 
years,  or  till  the  time  of  the  Domitian  persecution.  ^ 

From  Athens  Paul  directed  his  steps  to  Corinth,  where  he 
arrived  in  the  autumn  of  A.D.  52.  Nearly  two  hundred  years 
before,  this  city  had  been  completely  destroyed ;  but  after  a 
century  of  desolation  it  had  been  rebuilt ;  and,  having  since 
rapidly  increased,  it  was  now  flourishing  and  populous.  As  a 
place  of  trade,  its  position  near  an  isthmus  of  the  same  name 
gave  it  immense  advantages ;  for  it  had  a  harbor  on  each  side, 
so  that  it  was  the  central  depot  of  the  commerce  of  the  East 
and  West.     Its  inhabitants  valued  themselves  much  on  their 

>  Acts  xvii.  32.  ^  Acts  xvii.  21.  '  Acts  xvii.  34. 

*  These  writings,  which  made  their  appearance  not  earlier  than  the 
fourth  or  fifth  century,  were  held  in  great  reputation,  particularly  by  the 
Mystics,  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

'  Burton's  "  Lectures,"  i.  183. 


96  PAUL  AT   CORINTH. 

attainments  in  philosophy  and  general  literature ;  but,  whilst 
by  traffic  they  had  succeeded  in  acquiring  wealth,  they  had 
given  way  to  the  temptations  of  luxury  and  licentiousness. 
Corinth  was  at  this  time  one  of  the  most  dissolute  cities  of 
the  Empire.  It  was  the  capital  of  the  large  province  of 
Achaia,  and  the  residence  of  the  Roman  proconsul. 

Paul,  when  at  Athens,  adapted  his  style  of  instruction  to  the 
character  of  his  auditors,  and  was  thus  obliged  to  occupy  much 
of  his  time  in  discussing  the  principles  of  natural  religion.  He 
endeavored  to  gain  over  the  citizens  by  showing  them  that 
their  views  of  the  Godhead  could  not  stand  the  test  of  a  vig- 
orous and  discriminating  logic,  and  that  Christianity  alone 
rested  on  a  sound  philosophical  foundation.  But  the  exposi- 
tion of  a  pure  system  of  theism  had  comparatively  little  in- 
fluence on  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  these  system-builders. 
Considering  the  time  and  skill  devoted  to  its  culture,  Athens 
had  yielded  less  spiritual  fruit  than  any  field  of  labor  on  which 
he  had  yet  operated.  When  he  arrived  in  Corinth,  he  re- 
solved, therefore,  to  avoid,  as  much  as  possible,  mere  meta- 
physical argumentation,  and  sought  rather  to  stir  up  sinners 
to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  by  pressing  home  upon  them 
earnestly  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  revelation.  In  the  first 
epistle,  addressed  subsequently  to  the  Church  established  in 
this  place,  he  thus  describes  the  spirit  in  which  he  conducted 
his  apostolical  ministrations.  "And  I,  brethren,"  says  he, 
"  when  I  came  to  you,  came  not  with  excellency  of  speech  or 
of  wisdom,  declaring  unto  you  the  testimony  of  God,  for  I 
determined  not  to  know  anything  among  you  save  Jesus 
Christ  aiid  him  crucified;  and  my  speech  and  my  preaching 
was,  not  with  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom,  but  in  demon- 
stration of  the  Spirit  and  of  power ;  that  your  faith  should 
not  stand  in  the  wisdom  of  men,  but  in  the  power  of  God."  * 

The  result  demonstrated  that  the  apostle  thus  pursued  the 
most  effective  mode  of  advancing  the  Christian  cause.  It 
might,  indeed,  have  been  thought  that  Corinth  was  a  very 
ungenial  soil  for  the  Gospel,  as  Venus  was  the  favorite  deity 

'  I  Cor.  ii.  I,  2,  4,  5. 


PAUL  AT   CORINTH.  9/ 

of  the  place  ;  and  a  thousand  priestesses,  or,  in  other  words, 
a  thousand  prostitutes,  were  employed  in  the  celebration  of 
her  orgies.'  The  inhabitants  generally  were  sunk  in  the  very 
depths  of  moral  pollution.  But  the  preaching  of  the  Cross 
produced  a  powerful  impression  even  in  this  hotbed  of  in- 
iquity. Notwithstanding  the  enmity  of  the  Jews,  who  *'  op- 
posed themselves  and  blasphemed,"  ^  Paul  succeeded  in  col- 
lecting here  a  large  and  prosperous  congregation.  "  Many 
of  the  Corinthians  hearing  believed,  and  were  baptized." ' 
Most  of  the  converts  were  in  very  humble  circumstances,  and 
hence  the  apostle  says  to  them  in  his  first  epistle,  "  Ye  see 
your  calling,  brethren,  how  that  not  many  wise  men  after  the 
flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble  are  called  ";  *  but 
still  a  few  persons  of  distinction  united  themselves  to  the 
despised  community.  Erastus,  the  chamberlain,  or  treasurer, 
of  the  city,  was  among  the  disciples.^  This  civic  functionary 
may  have  joined  the  Church  at  a  later  date ;  but,  even  now, 
Paul  was  encouraged  by  the  accession  of  some  remarkable 
converts.  Of  these  the  most  conspicuous  was  Crispus,  "  the 
chief  ruler  of  the  synagogue/'  who,  "with  all  his  house,"  sub- 
mitted to  baptism."  About  the  same  time  Gaius,  an  opulent 
citizen,  who  rendered  good  service  to  the  common  cause  by 
his  Christian  hospitality,'  openly  embraced  the  Gospel.  Two 
other  converts,  who  are  often  honorably  mentioned  in  the 
New  Testament,  were  now  likewise  added  to  the  infant 
Church.  These  were  Aquila  and  Priscilla.'  Some  have,  in- 
deed, maintained  that  this  couple  had  been  already  baptized  ; 
but,  on  the  arrival  of  Paul  in  Corinth,  Aquila  is  represented 
as  a  Jew'' — a  designation  not  descriptive  of  his  position  had  he 
been  previously  a  believer — and  therefore  the  conversion  of 
himself  and  his  excellent  partner  must  have  occurred  at  this 
period. 

'  Strabo,  lib.  viii.  vol.  i.,  p.  549  ;  Edit.  Oxon.  1807. 
^  Acts  xviii.  6.  '  Acts  xviii.  8.  '  i  Cor.  i.  26. 

^  Rom.  xvi.  23.     This  epistle  was  written  from  Corinth. 
«  Acts  xviii.  8.  '  i  Cor.  i.  14  ;  Rom.  xvi.  23. 

"  Acts  xviii.  2,  26  ;  Rom.  xvi.  3  ;  i  Cor.  xvi.  19 ;  2  Tim.  iv.  19. 
'  Acts  xviii.  2. 
7 


98  PAUL  AT   CORINTH. 

In  this  city,  as  well  as  in  many  other  places,  the  apostle 
supported  himself  by  the  labor  of  his  own  hands.  It  was  cus- 
tomary, even  for  Israelites  in  easy  circumstances,  to  train  up 
their  children  to  some  mechanical  employment,  so  that  should 
they  sink  into  penury,  they  could  still,  by  manual  industry, 
procure  a  livelihood.'  Paul  had  been  taught  the  trade  of  a 
tent-maker,  or  manufacturer  of  awnings  of  haircloth — articles 
much  used  in  the  East  as  a  protection  against  the  rays  of  the 
sun,  by  travellers  and  mariners.  It  was  in  connection  with 
this  occupation  that  he  became  acquainted  with  Aquila  and 
Priscilla.  "  Because  he  was  of  the  same  craft,  he  abode  with 
them,  and  wrought.'"'  The  Jew  and  his  wife  had  probably  a 
large  manufactory,  and  thus  could  furnish  the  apostle  with 
remunerative  employment.  When  under  their  roof,  he  did 
not  neglect  the  opportunities  he  enjoyed  of  presenting  the 
Gospel  to  their  attention,  and  both  soon  became  his  ardent 
and  energetic  coadjutors  in  missionary  service. 

The  conduct  of  Paul  in  working  with  his  own  hands,  when 
engaged  in  the  dissemination  of  the  Gospel,  is  a  noble  exam- 
ple of  Christian  self-denial.  He  could,  it  appears,  expect  lit- 
tle assistance  from  the  mother  church  of  Antioch ;  and  had 
he,  in  the  first  instance,  demanded  support  from  those  to 
whom  he  ministered,  he  exposed  himself  and  his  cause  to  the 
utmost  suspicion.  In  a  commercial  city,  such  as  Corinth,  he 
would  have  been  regarded  by  many  as  a  mere  adventurer  who 
had  resorted  to  a  new  species  of  speculation  in  the  hope  of 
obtaining  a  maintenance.  His  disinterested  behavior  placed 
him  at  once  beyond  the  reach  of  this  imputation  ;  and  his  in- 
tense love  to  Christ  prepared  him  to  make  the  sacrifice,  which 
the  course  he  thus  adopted  required.  And  what  a  proof  of 
the  humility  of  Paul  that  he  cheerfully  labored  for  his  daily 
bread  at  the  trade  of  a  tent-maker!  The  Rabbi  once  admired 
for  his  genius  and  his  learning  by  the  most  distinguished  of 

'  "  Rabbi  Judah  saith,  '  He  that  teacheth  not  his  son  a  trade,  doth  the 
same  as  if  he  taught  him  to  be  a  thief;  and  Rablian  Gamaliel  sTiith,  '  He 
that  hath  a  trade  in  his  hand,  to  what  is  he  like  ?  He  is  like  a  vineyard 
that  is  fenced.'  "—See  Alfordon  Acts,  xviii.  3. 

"  Acts  xviii.  3. 


PAUL   AT   CORINTH.  99 

his  countrymen — who  had  sat  among  the  members  of  the 
great  Sanhedrim — and  who  might  have  legitimately  aspired 
to  be  the  son-in-law  of  the  High-Priest  of  Israel ' — was  now 
content  to  toil  "night  and  day"  at  a  menial  occupation,  sit- 
ting among  the  workmen  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla  !  How  like 
to  Him  who,  though  He  was  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  became 
poor,  that  we,  through  His  poverty,  might  be  rich  ! 

Paul  was  well  aware  of  the  importance  of  Corinth  as  a  cen- 
tre of  missionary  influence.  Strangers  from  the  East  passed 
through  it  on  their  way  to  Rome,  and  travellers  from  the 
Western  metropolis  stopped  here  on  their  way  to  Asia  Minor, 
Palestine,  or  Syria,  so  that  it  was  one  of  the  greatest  thor- 
oughfares in  the  Empire ;  and,  as  a  commercial  mart,  it  was 
second  to  very  few  cities  in  the  world.  The  apostle  therefore 
saw  that  if  a  Church  could  be  firmly  planted  in  this  busy  cap- 
ital, it  would  scatter  the  seeds  of  truth  to  all  the  ends  of  the 
earth. "  We  may  thus  understand  why  he  remained  in  Corinth 
so  much  longer  than  in  any  other  place  he  had  yet  visited 
since  his  departure  from  Antioch.  "  He  continued  there  a 
year  and  six  months,  teaching  the  Word  of  God  among  them."  ^ 
He  was  encouraged  by  a  special  communication  from  Heaven 
to  prosecute  his  labors  with  zeal  and  diligence.  "  The  Lord 
spake  to  Paul  in  the  night  by  a  vision,  Be  not  afraid,  but 
speak,  and  hold  not  thy  peace :  for  I  am  with  thee,  and  no 
man  shall  set  on  thee  to  hurt  thee,  for  I  have  much  people  in 
this  city." ' 

Though  the  ministry  of  the  apostle  was  attended  with  such 
remarkable  success,  his  converts  did  not  all  continue  to  walk 
worthy  of  their  profession.  But  if  in  the  Church  of  this  flour- 
ishing mercantile  metropolis  there  were  greater  disorders  than 
in  perhaps  any  other  of  the  early  Christian  communities,'  the 
explanation  is  obvious.  Even  in  a  degenerate  age  Corinth 
was  notorious  for  its  profligacy;  and  it  would  have  been 
indeed  marvellous  if  ex^cesses  had  not  been  occasionally 
committed    by   some   of   the   members   of   a   religious    soci- 

'  Epiphanius,  "Haer,"  xxx.  16.         "^  Acts  xviii.  11.         ^  Acts  xviii    9,  10 
*  See  I  Cor.  i.  11,  and  xi,  20,  21  :  and  2  Cor.  xii.  21  :  and  xiii.  2. 


100  PAUL  AT   CORINTH. 

ety  composed,  to  a  considerable  extent,  of  reclaimed  lib- 
ertines.' 

The  success  of  the  Gospel  in  Corinth  roused  the  unbelieving 
Jews  to  opposition ;  and  here,  as  elsewhere,  they  endeavored 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  aid  of  the  civil  power ;  but  in  this  in- 
stance, their  appeal  to  the  Roman  magistrate  was  signally  un- 
successful. Gallio,  brother  of  the  celebrated  Seneca,  the  phi- 
losopher, was  ''  the  deputy  of  Achaia  ";  ^  and  when  the  bigoted 
and  incensed  Israelites  "  made  insurrection  with  one  accord 
against  Paul,  and  brought  him  to  the  judgment-seat,  saying, 
This  fellow  persuadeth  men  to  worship  God  contrary  to  the 
law"  ^  the  proconsul  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  accusation. 
When  the  apostle  was  about  to  enter  on  his  defence,  Gallio  in- 
timated that  such  a  proceeding  was  quite  unnecessary,  as  the 
affair  did  not  come  within  the  range  of  his  jurisdiction.  "  If," 
said  he,  "  it  were  a  matter  of  wrong,  or  wicked  lewdness,  O  ye 
Jews,  reason  would  that  I  should  bear  with  you ;  but  if  it 
be  a  question  of  words  and  names  and  of  your  /aw,  look  ye  to 
it,  for  I  will  be  no  judge  of  such  matters.  And  he  drave  them 
from  the  judgment-seat."''  On  this  occasion,  for  the  first  time 
since  the  arrival  of  Paul  and  his  brethren  in  Europe,  the  mob 
was  on  the  side  of  the  missionaries,  and  under  the  very  eye  of 
the  proconsul,  and  without  any  effort  on  his  part  to  interfere 
and  arrest  their  violence,  the  most  prominent  of  the  plaintiffs 
was  somewhat  roughly  handled.  "  Then  all  the  Greeks  took 
Sosthenes,  the  chief  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  and  beat  him  be- 
fore the  judgment-seat.  And  Gallio  cared  for  none  of  these 
things."  ^ 

When  Paul  was  at  Corinth,  and  probably  in  A.l).  53,  he  wrote 
his  two  earliest  letters;  that  is,  the  First  and  Second  Epistles 
to  the  Thessalonians.  These  communications  were,  therefore, 
drawn  up  about  twelve  months  after  the  original  formation  of 
the  religious  community  to  which  they  are  addressed.  The 
Thessalonian  Church  was  already  fully  organized,  as  the  apos- 
tle here  points  out  to  the  disciples  their  duties  to  those  who 

'  See  I  Cor.  vi.  9-1 1.  ^  Acts  xviii.  12.  ^  Acts  xviii.  13. 

*Acts  xviii.  14-16.  'Acts  -wiii.  17. 


PAUL   AT   CORINTH.  lOI 

labored  among  them  and  who  were  over  them  in  the  Lord.' 
Sev^eral  errors  had  gained  currency ;  and  a  letter,  announc- 
ing that  the  day  of  Christ  was  at  hand,  and  purporting  to  have 
been  penned  by  Paul  himself,  had  thrown  the  brethren  into 
great  consternation.'  The  apostle  accordingly  deemed  it  nec- 
essary to  interpose,  and  to  point  out  the  dangerous  character 
of  the  doctrines  which  had  been  so  industriously  promulgated. 
He  now,  too,  delivered  his  famous  prophecy  announcing  the 
revelation  of  the  "  Man  of  Sin"  before  the  second  coming  of 
the  Redeemer.'  Almost  all  the  members  of  the  Thessalonian 
Church  were  converted  Gentiles,"  who  were  still  but  little  ac- 
quainted with  the  Jewish  Scriptures ;  and  this  is,  perhaps,  the 
reason  why  there  is  no  quotation  from  the  Old  Testament  in 
either  of  these  letters.  Even  the  Gospels  were  not  yet  written, 
and  hence  Paul  exhorts  the  brethren  "  to  hold  fast  the  tradi- 
tions," or  rather  "  ordinances,"  '  which  they  had  been  taught, 
"whether  by  word  or  his  epistle."  ° 

'  I  Thess.  V.  12,  13.  '2  Thess.  ii.  2.  '2  Thess.  ii.  3-12. 

*  I  Thess.  i.  9.  ^  Taf  Trapadoaeig. 

*2  Thess.  ii.  15.  Paul  is  here  speaking,  not  of  what  had  been  handed 
down  from  preceding-  generations,  but  of  what  had  been  established  by  his 
own  apostolic  authority,  so  that  the  rendering  "traditions  "  in  our  English 
version  is  a  peculiarly  unhappy  translation. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE    CONVERSION    OF   APOLLOS,    HIS   CHARACTER,   AND    THE 
MINISTRY   OF   PAUL   IN   EPHESUS. 

A.D.   54  TO  A.D.   57. 

The  apostle  "  took  his  leave  "  '  of  the  Corinthian  brethren 
in  the  spring  of  A.D.  54,  and  embarking  at  the  port  of  Cenchrea, 
about  eight  or  nine  miles  distant,  set  sail  for  Ephesus.  The 
navigation  among  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago  was  some- 
what intricate ;  and  the  voyage  not  unfrequently  occupied 
from  ten  to  fifteen  days."*  At  Ephesus  Paul  "■  entered  into  the 
synagogue,  and  reasoned  with  the  Jews.'"  His  statements 
produced  a  favorable  impression,  and  he  was  solicited  to  pro- 
long his  visit ;  but  as  he  was  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem,  and  anx- 
ious to  be  present  at  the  approaching  feast  of  Pentecost,  he 
could  only  assure  them  of  his  intention  to  return,  and  then  bid 
them  farewell.  He  left  behind  him,  however,  in  this  great  city 
his  two  Corinthian  converts,  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  who  carried 
on  with  industry  and  success  the  work  which  he  had  com- 
menced  so  auspiciously.  Among  the  first-fruits  of  their  pious 
care  for  the  spread  of  Christianity  was  the  famous  Apolios,  an 
Alexandrian  Jew,  who  now  arrived  in  the  metropolis  of  the 
Proconsular  Asia. 

The  seed  of  Abraham  in  the  birthplace  of  Apolios  spoke  the 
Greek  language,  and  occupied  a  peculiar  position.  They  were 
free  from  some  of  the  prejudices  of  the  Jews  in  Palestine;  and, 
though  living  in  the  midst  of  a  heathen  population,  had  advan- 
tages enjoyed  by  very  few  of  their  brethren  scattered  elsewhere 
among  the  Gentiles.     At  Alexandria  their  sumptuous  syna- 

'  Acts  xviii.  18.      "See  Conybeare  and  Howson,  i.  454.       '  Acts  xviii.  19 
(102) 


APOLLOS.  103 

gogues  were  unequivocal  evidences  of  their  wealth ;  they  con- 
stituted a  large  and  influential  section  of  the  inhabitants  ;  they 
had  much  political  power;  and,  whilst  their  study  of  the  Greek 
philosophy  had  modified  their  habits  of  thought,  they  had  ac- 
quired a  taste  for  the  cultivation  of  eloquence  and  literature. 
Apollos,  the  Jew,  "born  at  Alexandria,'"  who  became  ac- 
quainted with  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  was  an  educated  and  accom- 
plished man.  He  "  was  instructed  in  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and 
being  fervent  in  the  spirit,  he  spake  and  taught  diligently  the 
things  of  the  Lord,  knozving  only  the  baptism  of  John  y^  The 
influence  of  the  preaching  of  the  Baptist  is  seen  in  this  inci- 
dental notice ;  for  though  the  forerunner  of  our  Saviour  had 
finished  his  career  a  quarter  of  a  century,  the  Alexandrian  Jew 
was  only  one  of  many  still  living  witnesses  to  testify  that  he 
had  not  ministered  in  vain.  In  this  case  John  had  indeed  "  pre- 
pared the  way  "  of  his  Master,  as,  under  the  tuition  of  Aquila 
and  Priscilla,  Apollos  was  led  without  difficulty  to  embrace  the 
Christian  doctrine.  This  pious  couple  "  took  him  unto  them, 
and  expounded  unto  him  the  way  of  God  more  perfectly."  ^ 
Priscilla  was  no  less  distinguished  than  her  husband  *  for  intel- 
ligence and  zeal ;  and  though  she  was  prevented,  as  much  by 
her  native  modesty,  as  by  the  constitution  of  the  Church," 
from  officiating  as  a  public  instructor,  she  was  "  apt  to  teach  "; 
and  there  must  have  been  something  most  interesting  and  im- 
pressive in  her  private  conversation.  How  remarkable  that 
one  of  the  ablest  preachers  of  the  apostolic  age  was  largely  in- 
debted to  a  female  for  his  acquaintance  with  Christian  theology  ! 
The  accession,  at  this  juncture,  of  such  a  convert  as  Apollos 
contributed  greatly  to  advance  the  evangelical  cause.  The 
Church  of  Corinth,  in  the  absence  of  Paul,  much  required  the 
services  of  a  minister  of  superior  ability ;  and  the  learned 
Alexandrian  was  eminently  qualified  to  promote  its  edification. 
He  was  "an  eloquent  man,  and  mighty  in  the  Scriptures."' 
After  sojourning  some  time  at  Ephesus,  it  occurred  to  him 

'  Acts  xviii.  24.  'Acts  xviii.  25.  ^  Acts  xviii.  26. 

*  She  is  named  before  Aquila  in  Acts  xviii.  18  ;  Rom.  xvi.  3  ;  and  2  Tim. 
iv.  19. 

^  I  Cor.  xiv.  34,  35  ;  i  Tim.  ii.  12.  *  Acts  xviii.  24. 


104  PAUL  AT   EPHESUS. 

that  he  should  have  a  more  extensive  sphere  of  usefuhiess  at 
Corinth ;  and  "  when  he  was  disposed  to  pass  into  Achaia,  the 
brethren  wrote  exhorting  the  disciples  to  receive  him."  '  His 
friends  in  Asia  had  formed  no  exaggerated  idea  of  his  gifts 
and  acquirements.  When  he  reached  the  Greek  capital,  he 
"  helped  them  much  which  had  believed  through  grace ;  for 
he  mightily  convinced  the  Jews,  and  that  publicly,  showing 
by  the  Scriptures  that  Jesus  was  Christ."''  His  surpassing 
rhetorical  ability  soon  proved  a  snare  to  some  of  the  hyper- 
critical Corinthians  and  tempted  them  to  institute  invidious 
comparison  between  him  and  their  great  apostle.  Hence  in 
the  first  epistle  addressed  to  them,  the  writer  finds  it  neces 
sary  to  rebuke  them  for  their  folly  and  fastidiousness. 
*'  While  one  saith  I  am  of  Paul,  and  another,  I  am  of  Apollos, 
are  ye,"  says  he,  "  not  carnal  ?  Who  then  is  Paul,  and  who  is 
Apollos,  but  ministers  by  whom  ye  believed,  even  as  the  Lord 
gave  to  every  man  ?  I  have  planted,  Apollos  watered,  but 
God  gave  the  increase."  ' 

When  Aquila  and  Priscilla  were  at  Ephesus  expounding 
*'the  way  of  God  more  perfectly"  to  the  Jew  of  Alexandria, 
Paul  was  travelling  to  Jerusalem.  Three  years  before,  he  had 
been  there  to  confer  with  the  apostles  and  elders  concerning 
the  circumcision  of  the  Gentiles ;  and  he  had  not  since  visited 
the  holy  city.  His  present  stay  was  short — apparently  not 
extending  beyond  a  few  days  at  the  time  of  the  feast  of  Pen- 
tecost,— and  giving  him  a  very  brief  opportunity  of  inter- 
course with  his  brethren  of  the  Jewish  capital.  He  then 
"  went  down  to  Antioch  "  * — a  place  with  which  from  the 
commencement  of  his  missionary  career  he  had  been  more  in- 
timately associated.  "  After  he  had  spent  some  time  there, 
he  departed  and  went  over  all  the  country  of  Galatia  and 
Phrygia  in  order,  strengthening  all  the  disciples." "  On  a 
former  occasion,  after  he  had  passed  through  the  same  dis- 
tricts, he  had  been  "  forbidden  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  preach 
the  word  in  (the  Proconsular)  Asia"; '  but,  at  this  time,  the 
restriction  was  removed,  and  in  accordance  with  the  promise 

'  Acts  xviii.  27.  "  Acts  xviii.  27,  28.  '  i  Cor.  iii.  4-5. 

*  Acts  xviii.  22.  '  Acts  xviii.  23.  '  Acts  xvi.  6. 


PAUL   AT   EPHESUS.  10$ 

made  to  the  Jews  at  Ephesus  in  the  preceding  spring,  he  now- 
resumed  his  evangelical  labors  in  that  far-famed  metropolis. 
There  must  have  been  a  strong  disposition  on  the  part  of 
many  of  the  seed  of  Abraham  in  the  place  to  attend  to  his 
instructions,  as  he  was  permitted  "  for  the  space  of  three 
months''  to  occupy  the  synagogue,  ''  disputing  and  persuading 
the  things  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God." '  At  length, 
however,  he  began  to  meet  with  so  much  opposition  that  he 
found  it  expedient  to  discontinue  his  addresses  in  the  Jewish 
meeting-house.  "  When  divers  were  hardened  and  believed 
not.  but  spake  evil  of  that  way  before  the  multitude,  he  de- 
parted from  them,  and  separated  the  disciples,  disputing  daily 
in  the  school  of  one  Tyrannus."  "^  This  Tyrannus  was,  prob- 
ably, a  Gentile  convert,  and  a  teacher  of  rhetoric — a  depart- 
ment of  education  very  much  cultivated  at  that  period  by  all 
youths  anxious  to  attain  social  distinction.  What  is  here 
called  his  "  school,"  was  a  spacious  lecture-room  sufficient  to 
accommodate  a  numerous  auditory. 

About  this  time  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  was  written. 
The  Galatians,  as  their  name  indicated,  were  the  descendants 
of  a  colony  of  Gauls  settled  in  Asia  Minor  several  centuries 
before;  and,  like  the  French  of  the  present  day,  were  distin- 
guished by  their  lively  and  mercurial  temperament.  Paul  had 
recently  visited  their  country  for  the  second  time,^  and  had 
been  received  by  them  with  the  warmest  demonstrations  of 
regard  ;  but  meanwhile  Judaizing  zealots  had  appeared  among 
them,  and  had  been  only  too  successful  in  their  efforts  to  in- 
duce them  to  observe  the  Mosaic  ceremonies.  The  apostle, 
at  Antioch,  and  at  the  synod  of  Jerusalem,  had  already  pro- 
tested against  these  attempts ;  and  subsequent  reflection  had 
only  more  thoroughly  convinced  him  of  their  danger.  Hence 
he  here  addresses  the  Galatians  in  terms  of  unusual  severity. 

'  Acts  xix.  8.  '•'  Acts  xix.  9. 

'  That  this  epistle  was  written  after  the  second  visit  appears  from  Gal.  iv. 
13.  Mr.  Ellicott  asserts  that  "  the  first  time  "  is  here  the  preferable  transla- 
tion of  ro  wpoTepov,  and  yet,  rather  inconsistently,  adds,  that  "  no  historical 
conclusions  can  safely  be  drawn  from  this  expression  alone."  See  his 
"Critical  and  Grammatical  Commentary  on  Galatians,"  iv.  13. 


I06  PAUL   AT   EPHESUS. 

"  I  mangel,"  he  exclaims,  "  that  ye  are  so  soon  removed  from 
him  that  called  you  into  the  grace  of  Christ  unto  another  gos- 
pel " — "  O  foolish  Galatians,  who  hath  bewitched  you  that  ye 
should  not  obey  the  truth,  before  whose  eyes  Jesus  Christ 
hath  been  evidently  set  forth,  crucified  among  you  ?  "  '  At 
the  same  time  he  proves  that  the  sinner  is  saved  by  faith 
alone;  that  the  Mosaic  institutions- were  designed  merely  for 
the  childhood  of  the  Church  ;  and  that  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
should  refuse  to  be  "  entangled "  with  any  such  "  yoke  of 
bondage."*  His  epistle  throughout  is  a  most  emphatic  testi- 
mony to  the  doctrine  of  a  free  justification. 

Some  time  after  Paul  reached  Ephesus,  on  his  return  from 
Jerusalem,  he  made  a  short  visit  to  Corinth.'  He  encoun. 
tered  a  variety  of  dangers  of  which  no  record  is  to  be  found 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  ; '  and  it  is  probable  that  many  of 
these  disasters  were  experienced  at  this  period.  Thus,  not 
long  after  this  date,  he  says,  "  Thrice  I  suffered  shipwreck,  a 
night  and  a  day  I  have  been  in  the  deep."  ^  There  are  good 
grounds  for  believing  that  he  now  visited  Crete,  as  well  as 
Corinth ;  and  that  these  voyages  exposed  him  to  the  "  perils 
in  the  sea  "  which  he  enumerates  among  his  trials."  On  his 
departure  from  Crete  he  left  Titus  behind  him  to  "  set  in 
order  the  things  that  were  wanting,  and  to  ordain  elders  in 
every  city  "; '  and  in  the  spring  of  A.D.  57  he  wrote  to  the 
evangelist  that  brief  epistle  in  which  he  points  out,  with  so 
much  fidelity  and  wisdom,  the  duties  of  the  pastoral  office." 
The  silence  of  Luke  respecting  this  visit  to  Crete  is  the  less 
remarkable,  as  the  name  of  Titus  does  not  once  occur  in  the 

'  Gal.  i.  6,  iii.  i.  *  Gal.  ii.  i6,  iv.  1-4,  v.  i. 

'  I  Cor.  xvi.  7  ;  2  Cor.  xii.  14,  xiii.  i. 

*  The  Acts  take  no  notice  of  various  parts  of  his  early  career  as  a  preacher. 
Compare  Acts  ix.  20-26  with  Gal.  i.  17. 

'  2  Cor.  xi.  25.  "  2  Cor.  xi.  26.  '  Titus  i.  5. 

*  See  Titus  i.  6-1 1,  ii.  i,  7,  8,  15,  iii.  8-1 1.  The  reasons  assij,Mied  in  sup- 
port of  a  later  date  for  the  writing  of  this  epistle  arc  not  at  all  satisfactory. 
Paul  directs  the  evanj,'elist  (Titus  iii.  12)  to  come  to  him  to  Nicopolis,  for 
he  had  "determined  there  to  winter."  This  Nicopolis  was  in  Greece,  in 
the  province  of  Achaia,  and  we  know  that  Paul  wintered  there  A.D.  57- 
58,  Acts  XX.  2,  3.     Sec  Schaff's  "  Apostolic  Church,"  i.  390. 


PAUL  AT   EPHESUS.  I07 

book  of  the  Acts,  though  there  is  distinct  evidence  that  he 
was  deeply  interested  in  some  of  the  most  important  transac- 
tions which  are  there  narrated.' 

Paul,  two  years  before,  had  been  prevented,  as  has  "been 
stated,  by  a  divine  intimation,  from  preaching  in  the  district 
called  Asia ;  but  when  he  now  commenced  his  ministra- 
tions in  Ephesus,  its  capital,  he  continued  in  that  city  and 
its  neighborhood  longer  than  in  any  other  place  he  had  yet 
visited.  After  withdrawing  from  the  synagogue  and  resum- 
ing his  labors  in  the  school  of  Tyrannus,  he  remained  there 
"  by  the  space  of  tivo  years ;  so  that  all  they  which  dwelt 
in  Asia  heard  the  word  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  both  Jews  and 
Greeks." '  Meanwhile  the  churches  of  Laodicea,  Colosse,  and 
Hierapolis  were  founded.'  The  importance  of  Ephesus  gave 
it  a  special  claim  to  the  attention  it  now  received.  Being  the 
metropolis  of  the  district,  and  the  greatest  commercial  city  in 
the  whole  of  Asia  Minor,  it  was  connected  by  convenient 
roads  with  all  parts  of  the  interior,  and  visited  by  trading  ves- 
sels from  the  various  harbors  of  the  Mediterranean.  But,  in 
another  point  of  view,  it  presented  a  peculiarly  interesting 
field  of  missionary  labor;  for  it  was,  perhaps,  the  most  cele- 
brated of  all  the  high  places  of  Eastern  superstition.  Its 
temple  of  Artemis,  or  Diana,  was  one  of  the  wonders  of  the 
world.  This  gorgeous  structure,  covering  an  area  of  upwards 
of  two  acres,*  was  ornamented  with  columns,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  in  number,  each  sixty  feet  high,  and  each  the  gift 
of  a  king.'  Though  nearly  all  open  to  the  sky,  part  of  it  was 
covered  and  roofed  with  cedar.  The  image  of  the  goddess  oc- 
cupied a  comparatively  small  apartment  within  the  magnifi- 
cent enclosure.  This  image,  said  to  have  fallen  down  from 
Jupiter,"  was  not  like  one  of  those  pieces  of  beautiful  sculpture 

'  2  Cor.  ii.  13,  vii.  6,  13,  viii.  6,  16,  23,  xii.  18  ;  Gal.  ii.  i,  3. 

"^  Acts  xix.  10. 

"See  Col.  iv.  13,  15,  16.  These  churches  were  not,  however,  founded  by 
Paul.     See  Col.  ii.  i. 

*  "  This  was  the  largest  of  the  Greek  temples.  The  area  of  the  Parthenon 
at  Athens  was  7toi  one-fourth  of  that  of  the  temple  of  Ephesus." — SmitJis 
Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Geography,  Art.  Ephesus. 

^  Conybeare  and  Howson,  ii.  72.  '  Acts  xix.  35. 


I08  PAUL   AT   EPHESUS. 

which  adorned  the  Acropolis  of  Athens,  but  rather  resembled 
an  Indian  idol,  being  an  unsightly  female  form  with  many 
breasts,  made  of  wood,  and  terminating  below  in  a  shapeless 
block:'  On  several  parts  of  it  were  engraved  mysterious  sym- 
bols, called  "  Ephesian  letters."  ^  These  letters,  when  pro- 
noimced,  were  believed  to  operate  as  charms,  and,  when  writ- 
ten, were  carried  about  as  amulets.  To  those  who  sought  an 
acquaintance  with  the  Ephesian  magic,  they  constituted  an 
elaborate  study,  and  many  books  were  composed  to  expound 
their  significance,  and  point  out  their  application. 

About  this  time  the  famous  Apollonius  of  Tyana^  was  at- 
tracting uncommon  attention  by  his  tricks  as  a  conjuror,  and 
it  is  not  improbable  that  he  now  met  Paul  in  Ephesus.  If  so, 
we  can  assign  at  least  one  reason  why  the  apostle  was  prevent- 
ed from  making  his  appearance  at  an  earlier  date  in  the  Asiat- 
ic metropolis.  Men  had  thus  an  opportunity  of  comparing 
the  wonders  of  the  greatest  of  magicians  with  the  miracles  of 
the  Gospel,  and  of  marking  the  contrast  between  the  vainglory 
of  an  impostor,  and  the  humility  of  a  servant  of  Jesus.  The 
attentive  reader  of  Scripture  may  observe  that  some  of  the 
most  extraordinary  of  the  mighty  works  recorded  in  the  New 
Testament  were  performed  at  this  period,  and  it  is  not  un- 
reasonable to  conclude  that,  in  a  city  so  much  given  to  jug- 
glery and  superstition,  these  genuine  displays  of  the  power  of 
Omnipotence  were  exhibited  for  the  express  purpose  of  dem- 
onstrating the  incomparable  superiority  of  the  Author  of 
Christianity.  "  God  wrought  special  miracles  by  the  hands  of 
Paul,  so  that  from  his  body  were  brought  unto  the  sick  hand- 
kerchiefs or  aprons,  and  the  diseases  departed  from  them,  and 
the  evil  spirits  went  out  of  them."  *  The  disastrous  conse- 
quences of  an  attempt,  on  the  part  of  the  sons  of  a  Jewish 

'  Conybeare  and  Howson,  ii.  73.  Minucius  Felix,  in  his  Octavius,  speaks 
of  Diana  as  represented  "  at  Ephesus  with  many  distended  breasts  ranged 
in  tiers." 

"Conybeare  and  Howson,  ii.  13. 

^His  Life,  written  by  Philostratus  about  A.D.  210,  is  full  of  lying  wonders. 
His  biographer  mentions  his  visit  to  Ephesus,  book  iv.  I. 

*  Acts  xix.  II,  12. 


PAUL  AT   EPHESUS. 


109 


priest,  to  heal  the  afflicted  by  using  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  as  a  charm,  alarmed  the  entire  tribe  of  exorcists  and 
magicians.  "  The  man,  in  whom  the  evil  spirit  was,  leaped 
on  them,  and  overcame  them,  and  prevailed  against  them,  so 
that  they  fled  out  of  that  house  naked  and  wounded.  And  this 
was  known  to  all  the  Jews  and  Greeks  also  dwelling  at  Ephe- 
sus,  3.nd  fear  fell  on  them  all,  and  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
was  magnified." '  The  visit  of  Paul  told  upon  the  whole  pop- 
ulation, and  tended  greatly  to  discourage  the  study  of  the 
"  Ephesian  letters."  "  Many  of  them  also,  which  used  curious 
arts,  brought  their  books  together  and  burned  them  before  all 
men ;  and  they  counted  the  price  of  them,  and  found  it  fifty 
thousand  pieces  of  silver.^  So  mightily  grew  the  word  of  God 
and  prevailed."  ^ 

Some  time  before  the  departure  of  Paul  from  Ephesus,  he 
wrote  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  The  latter  con- 
tains internal  evidence  that  it  was  dictated  in  the  spring  of 
A.D.  57.'  The  circumstances  of  the  Corinthian  disciples  at  this 
juncture  imperatively  required  the  interference  of  the  apostle. 
Divisions  had  sprung  up  in  their  community  f  the  flagrant 
conduct  of  one  member  had  brought  dishonor  on  the  whole 
Christian  name  ;"  and  various  forms  of  error  had  been  making 
their  appearance.'  Paul  therefore  felt  it  right  to  address  to 
them  a  lengthened  and  energetic  remonstrance.  This  letter  is 
more  diversified  in  its  contents  than  any  of  his  other  epistles ; 
and  presents  us  with  a  very  interesting  view  of  the  daily  life  of 
the  primitive  Christians  in  a  great  commercial   city.     It  fur- 

^  Acts  xix.  16,  17. 

^  The  piece  of  silver  here  mentioned  was  worth  about  tenpence,  s»  that 
the  estimated  value  of  the  books  burned  was  nearly  $10,000. 

^  Acts  xix.  19,  20. 

*  It  was  written  not  long  before  Paul  left  Ephesus,  and  probably  about 
the  time  of  the  Passover,     i  Cor.  v.  7,  xvi.  5-8. 

^  I  Cor.  i.  T I .  "  I  Cor.  v.  i . 

^  I  Cor.  XV.  12.  This  passage  supplies  evidence  that  errorists  very  soon 
made  their  appearance  in  the  Christian  Church,  and  furnishes  an  answer  to 
those  chronologists  who  date  all  the  Pastoral  Epistles  after  Paul's  release 
from  his  first  imprisonment,  on  the  ground  that  the  Gnostics  had  no  exist- 
ence at  an  earlier  period. 


no  PAUL   AT   EPHESUS. 

nishes  conclusive  evidence  that  the  Apostolic  Church  of  Corinth 
was — not  the  paragon  of  excellence  which  the  ardent  and  un- 
reflecting have  often  pictured  in  their  imaginations — but  a 
community  compassed  with  infirmities,  and  certainly  not  ele- 
vated, in  point  of  spiritual  worth,  above  some  of  the  more 
healthy  Christian  congregations  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Shortly  after  this  letter  was  transmitted  to  its  destination, 
Ephesus  was  thrown  into  a  ferment  by  the  riotous  proceedings 
of  certain  parties  who  had  an  interest  in  the  maintenance  of 
the  pagan  superstition.  Among  those  who  derived  a  subsist- 
ence from  the  idolatry  of  its  celebrated  temple  were  a  class  of 
workmen  Avho  "made  silver  shrines  for  Diana/"  that  is,  who 
manufactured  little  models  of  the  sanctuary  and  of  the  image 
which  it  contained.  These  models  were  carried  about  by  the 
devotees  of  the  goddess  in  processions,  and  set  up,  in  private 
dwellings,  as  household  deities.''  The  impression  produced  by 
the  Christian  missionaries  in  the  Asiatic  metropolis  had  affect- 
ed the  traffic  in  such  articles,  and  those  who  were  engaged  in 
it  began  to  apprehend  that  their  trade  would  be  ultimately 
ruined.  An  individual,  named  Demetrius,  who  appears  to 
have  been  a  master-manufacturer,  did  not  find  it  difficult,  un- 
der these  circumstances,  to  collect  a  mob,  and  to  disturb  the 
peace  of  the  city.  Calling  together  the  operatives  of  his  own 
establishment,  "  with  the  workmen  of  like  occupation," '  he  said 
to  them,  "  Sirs,  ye  know  that  by  this  craft  we  have  our 
wealth.  Moreover,  ye  see  and  know  that  not  alone  at  Ephe- 
sus, but  almost  throughout  all  Asia,  this  Paul  hath  persuaded 
and  turned  away  much  people,  saying  that  they  be  no  gods 
which  are  made  with  hands — so  that  not  only  this  our  craft  is 
in  danger  to  be  set  at  nought,  but  also  that  the  temple  of  the 
great  goddess  Diana  should  be  despised,  and  her  magnificence 
should  be  destroyed,  whom  all  Asia  and  the  world  worship- 
peth."  *  This  address  did  not  fail  to  produce  the  effect  con- 
templated. A  strong  current  of  indignation  was  turned  against 
the  missionaries,  and  the  craftsmen,  with  shouts  of  uproar, 
supported  the  credit  of  their  tutelary  guardian.     They  were 

'  Acts  xix.  24.  ^  Conybeare  and  Hovvson,  ii.  74. 

'  Acts  xix,  25.  ♦  Acts.  xix.  25-27. 


PAUL  AT   EPHESUS.  Ill 

"  full  of  wrath,  and  cried  out,  saying,  Great  is  Diana  of  the 
Ephesians." '  This  proceeding  took  place  in  the  month  of 
May,  and  at  a  time  when  public  games  were  celebrated  in 
honor  of  the  Ephesian  goddess,^  so  that  a  large  concourse  of 
strangers  now  thronged  the  metropolis.  An  immense  crowd 
rapidly  collected ;  the  whole  city  was  filled  with  confusion ; 
and  the  lives  of  the  Christian  preachers  were  in  danger ;  for 
the  mob  caught  "  Gaius  and  Aristarchus,  men  of  Macedonia, 
Paul's  companions  in  travel,"  and  "  rushed  with  one  accord  into 
the  theatre."  ^  This  edifice,  the  largest  of  the  kind  in  Asia 
Minor,  was  capable  of  containing  thirty  thousand  persons.* 
As  it  was  sufificiently  capacious  to  accommodate  the  multitudi- 
nous assemblage,  and  the  building  in  which  public  meetings  of 
the  citizens  were  usually  convened,  it  was  now  quickly  occu- 
pied. Paul  was  at  first  prompted  to  enter  it,  and  to  plead  his 
cause  before  the  excited  throng ;  but  some  of  the  magistrates, 
or,  as  they  are  called  by  the  evangelist,  "  certain  of  the  chief  of 
Asia,  which  were  his  friends,  sent  unto  him,  desiring  him  that 
he  would  not  adventure  himself "  in  such  a  position. *  These 
Asiarchs  were  persons  of  exalted  rank  who  presided  at  the 
celebration  of  the  public  spectacles.  The  apostle  was  in  very 
humble  circumstances,  for  even  in  Ephesus  he  continued  to 
work  at  the  occupation  of  a  tent-maker ;  *  and  it  is  no  mean 
testimony  to  his  worth  that  he  had  secured  the  esteem  of  such 
high  functionaries.  It  was  quickly  manifest  that  any  attempt 
to  appease  the  crowd  must  be  in  vain.  A  Jew,  named  Alex- 
ander, who  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  craftsmen,  and,  per- 
haps, the  same  who  is  elsewhere  distinguished  as  the  "  copper- 

'  Acts  xix.  28. 

*  See  Conybeare  and  Howson,  ii.  79-81.  '  Acts  xix.  29. 

*  See  Hackett's  "Commentary  on  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  p.  273. 
^  Acts  xix.  31. 

«  Acts  XX.  34.  The  Asiarchs  "  derived  their  title  from  the  name  of  the 
province,  as  the  corresponding  officers  in  Cyprus,  Syria,  and  Lydia,  were 
called  Cypriarchs,  Syriarchs,  Lydiarchs.     Those  of  Asia  are  said  to  have 

been  ten  in  number As  the  games  and  sacrifices  over  which  these 

Asiarchs  presided,  were  provided  at  their  own  expense,  they  were  always 
chosen  from  the  richest  class,  and  may  be  said  to  represent  the  highest  rank 
of  the  comvc\\xn\\-^ ."  —Alexander  on  the  Acts,  ii.  210. 


112  PAUL   AT   EPHESUS. 

smith,"  '  made  an  effort  to  address  them,  probably  with  the  view 
of  showing  that  his  co-religionists  were  not  identified  with 
Paul  ;  but  when  the  mob  perceived  that  he  was  of  the  seed  of 
Abraham,  they  took  it  for  granted  that  he  was  no  friend  to 
the  manufacture  of  their  silver  shrines ;  and  his  appearance 
was  the  signal  for  increased  uproar.  "  When  they  knew  that  he 
was  a  Jew,  all  with  one  voice,  about  tJte  space  of  two  hours, 
cried  out,  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians.'"  At  length  the 
town-clerk,  or  recorder,  of  Ephesus,  contrived  to  obtain  a 
hearing ;  and,  by  his  prudence  and  address,  succeeded  in  put- 
ting an  end  to  this  scene  of  confusion.  He  told  his  fellow- 
townsmen  that,  if  Paul  and  his  companions  had  transgressed 
the  law,  they  were  amenable  to  punishment ;  but  that,  as  their 
own  attachment  to  the  worship  of  Diana  could  not  be  dispu- 
ted, their  present  tumultuary  proceedings  only  injured  their 
reputation  as  orderly  and  loyal  citizens.  "  We  are  in  danger," 
said  he,  "  to  be  called  in  question  for  this  day's  uproar,  there 
being  no  cause  whereby  we  may  give  an  account  of  this  con- 
course." ^  The  authority  of  the  speaker  imparted  additional 
weight  to  his  suggestions,  the  multitude  quietly  dispersed, 
and  the  missionaries  escaped  unscathed. 

Even  this  tumult  supplies  evidence  that  the  Christian 
preachers  had  already  produced  an  immense  impression  in  the 
Asiatic  metropolis.  No  more  decisive  test  of  their  success 
could  be  adduced  than  that  here  furnished  by  Demetrius  and 
his  craftsmen  ;  for  a  lucrative  trade  connected  with  the  estab- 
lished superstition  was  beginning  to  languish.  The  silver- 
smiths, and  other  interested  operatives,  were  obviously  the 
instigators  of  all  the  uproar;  and  yet  they  could  not  reckon 
upon  the  undivided  sympathy  even  of  the  crowd  they  had 
congregated.  "  Some  cried  one  thing,  and  some  another,  for 
the   assembly  was  confused,  and  the  more  part  knew  not  where- 

'  2  Tim.  iv.  14. 

'  Acts  xix.  34.  According  to  the  ideas  of  the  heathen,  this  unintermitted 
cry  was,  in  itself,  an  act  of  worship  ;  and  hence  we  may  understand  why  it 
was  so  long  continued,  but  it  is  surely  a  notable  example  of "  vain  repeti- 
tions."    See  Hackett,  p.  275. 

^  Acts  xix.  40. 


PAUL  AT   EPHESUS. 


113 


fore  they  were  come  together."  '  A  number  of  the  Asiarchs 
were  decidedly  favorable  to  the  apostle  and  his  brethren ;  and 
when  the  town-clerk  referred  to  their  proceedings  his  tone  was 
apologetic  and  exculpatory.  '*  Ye  have,"  said  he,  "  brought 
hither  these  men  who  are  neither  profaners  of  temples,^  nor 
yet  blasphemers  of  your  goddess."  ^  But  here  we  see  the 
real  cause  of  much  of  that  bitter  persecution  which  the 
Christians  endured  for  the  greater  part  of  three  centuries. 
The  craft  of  the  image-makers  was  in  danger;  the  income  of 
the  pagan  priests  was  at  stake ;  the  secular  interests  of  many 
other  parties  were  more  or  less  affected ;  and  hence  the  new 
religion  encountered  such  a  cruel  and  obstinate  opposition. 

'  Acts  xix.  32. 

2  Our  English  version,  "  robbers  of  churches,"  is  obviously  incorrect.  The 
Revised  version  of  the  New  Testament  reads,  "  robbers  of  temples." 

*  Acts  xix.  2)7 •  It  is  plain  from  this  passage  that  the  apostle,  when  refer- 
ring to  the  Gentile  worship,  avoided  the  use  of  language  calculated  to  give 
unnecessary  offence. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PAUL'S   EPISTLES;    HIS   COLLECTION   FOR   THE   POOR   SAINTS 

AT  JERUSALEM  ;    HIS   IMPRISONMENT   THERE 

AND   AT   C^SAREA  AND   ROME. 

A.D.  57  to  A.D.  63. 

Paul  had  determined  to  leave  Ephesus  at  Pentecost/  and 
as  the  secular  games,  at  which  the  Asiarchs  presided,  took 
place  during  the  month  of  May,  the  disorderly  proceedings 
of  Demetrius  and  the  craftsmen,  which  occurred  at  the  same 
period,  did  not  greatly  accelerate  his  removal.  Soon  after- 
ward, however,  he  "  called  unto  him  the  disciples,  and  em- 
braced them,  and  departed  to  go  into  Macedonia." '  When  he 
reached  that  district,  he  was  induced  to  enter  on  new  scenes 
of  missionary  enterprise ;  and  now,  "  round  about  unto  Illyri- 
cum,"  he  "  fully  preached  the  Gospel  of  Christ." '  Shortly 
before,  Timothy  had  returned  from  Greece  to  Ephesus,'  and 
when  the  apostle  took  leave  of  his  friends  in  that  metropolis, 
he  left  the  evangelist  behind  him  to  protect  the  infant  Church 
against  the  seductions  of  false  teachers.''  He  now  addressed  the 
first  epistle  to  his  "  own  son  in  the  faith,"  *  and  thus  also  sup- 
plied to  the  ministers  of  all  succeeding  generations  the  most 
precious  instructions  on  pastoral  theology.'     Soon  afterward 

'  I  Cor.  xvi.  8.  ^  Acts  xx.  i.  °  Rom.  xv.  19. 

'  See  Acts  xix.  22.  °  i  Tim.  i.  3.  "  i  Tim.  i.  2. 

'  According  to  the  chronology  adopted  in  our  English  Bible,  all  the  Pas- 
toral Epistles  were  written  after  Paul's  release  from  his  first  imprisonment, 
and  this  theory  has  recently  been  strenuously  advocated  by  Conybeare  and 
Howson,  Alford,  and  Ellicott  ;  but  their  reasonings  are  exceedingly  unsatis- 
factory. For,  I.  The  statement  of  Conybeare  and  Howson  that  "  the  three 
(114) 


PAUL'S   EPISTLES.  II5 

he  wrote  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  This  letter 
throws  much  light  on  the  private  character  of  Paul,  and  en- 
ables us  to  understand  how  he  contrived  to  maintain  such  a 
firm  hold  on  the  affections  of  those  among  whom  he  minis- 
tered. Though  he  uniformly  acted  with  great  decision,  he 
was  singularly  amiable  and  gentle,  as  well  as  generous  and 
warm-hearted.  No  one  could  doubt  his  sincerity ;  no  one 
could  question  his  disinterestedness  ;  no  one  could  fairly  com- 
plain that  he  was  harsh  or  unkind.  In  his  First  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians  he  had  been  obliged  to  employ  strong  language 
when  rebuking  them  for  their  irregularities;  but  now  they  ex- 
hibited evidences  of  repentance,  and  he  is  most  willing  to 
forget  and  forgive.  In  his  Second  Epistle  to  them  he  enters 
into  many  details  of  his  personal  history  unnoticed  elsewhere 
in  the  New  Testament,'  and  throughout  displays  a  most  loving 
and  conciliatory  spirit.  He  states  that,  when  he  dictated  his 
former  letter,  it  was  far  from  his  intention  to  wound  their 

epistles  were  nearly  contemporaneous  with  each  other  "  is  a  mere  assertion 
resting  on  no  solid  foundation  ;  as  resemblance  in  style,  especially  when  all 
the  letters  were  dictated  by  the  same  individual,  can  be  no  evidence  as  to 
date.  n.  There  is  direct  evidence  that  heresies,  such  as  those  described  in 
these  epistles,  existed  in  the  Church  long  before  Paul's  first  imprisonment. 
See  I  Cor.  iii.  18,  19,  xv.  12  ;  2  Cor.  xi.  4,  13-15,  22,  compared  with  i  Tim_ 
i.  3,  7.  in.  The  early  Churches  were  very  soon  organized,  as  appears  from 
Acts  xiv.  23  ;  I  Thess.  v.  12,  13  ;  so  that  the  state  of  ecclesiastical  organi- 
zation described  in  the  First  Epistle  to  Timothy  and  the  Epistle  to  Titus  is 
no  proof  of  the  late  date  of  these  letters.  IV.  But  the  grand  argument  in 
support  of  the  early  date,  and  one  with  which  the  advocates  of  the  later 
chronology  have  never  fairly  grappled,  is  derived  from  the  fact  that  Paul 
never  was  in  Ephesus  after  the  time  mentioned  in  Acts  xx.  When  he  wrote 
to  Timothy  he  intended  shortly  to  return  thither.  See  i  Tim.  i.  3,  iii.  14, 
15.  It  is  evident  that  when  the  apostle  addressed  the  elders  of  Ephesus 
(Acts  XX.  25)  and  told  them  they  should  "see  his  face  no  more,"  he  con- 
sidered himself  as  speaking  prophetically.  It  is  clear,  too,  that  his  words 
were  so  understood  by  his  auditors  (Acts  xx.  38),  and  that  the  evangelist 
who  wrote  them  down  several  years  afterward  was  still  under  the  same 
impression.  I  agree,  therefore,  with  Wieseler,  and  others,  in  assigning  an 
early  date  to  the  First  Epistle  to  Timothy  and  the  Epistle  to  Titus. 

1  2  Cor.  xi.  9,  24-28,  32,  33,  xii.  2,  7-9.     The  Second  Epistle   to  the  Co- 
rinthians was  written  late  in  a.d.  57. 


Il6  PAUL'S   EPISTLES. 

feelings,  and  that  it  was  with  the  utmost  pain  he  had  sent 
them  such  a  communication.  "  Out  of  much  affliction,  and 
anguish  of  heart,''  said  he,  "  I  wrote  unto  you  tinth  many  tears, 
not  that  ye  should  be  grieved,  but  that  ye  might  know  the 
love  which  I  have  more  abundantly  unto  you." '  The  Corin- 
thians could  not  have  well  resented  an  advice  from  such  a 
correspondent. 

When  Paul  had  itinerated  throughout  Macedonia  and  Illy- 
ricum  "  he  came  into  Greece,*  and  there  abode  three  months." ' 
He  now  visited  Corinth  for  the  third  time;  and,  during  his 
stay  in  that  city,  dictated  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.''  At 
this  date,  a  Church  "  spoken  of  throughout  the  whole  world  "  ' 
had  been  formed  in  the  great  metropolis ;  some  of  its  mem- 
bers were  the  relatives  of  the  apostle ;°  and  others,  such  as 
Priscilla  and  Aquila,'  had  been  converted  under  his  ministry. 
As  he  himself  contemplated  an  early  visit  to  the  far-famed 
city,^  he  sent  this  letter  before  him,  to  announce  his  intentions, 
and  to  supply  the  place  of  his  personal  instructions.  The 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  is  a  precious  epitome  of  Christian 
theology.  It  is  more  systematic  in  its  structure  than  any 
other  of  the  writings  of  Paul ;  and  being  a  very  lucid  expo- 
sition of  the  leading  truths  taught  by  the  inspired  heralds  of 
the  Gospel,  it  remains  an  emphatic  testimony  to  the  doctrinal 
defections  of  the  religious  community  now  bearing  the  name 
of  the  Church  to  which  it  was  originally  addressed. 

The  apostle  had  been  recently  making  arrangements  for 
another  visit  to  Jerusalem ;  and  he  accordingly  left  Greece 
in  the  spring  of  A.D.  58  ;  but  the  malignity  of  his  enemies 
obliged  him  to  change  his  plan  of  travelling.  "  When  the 
Jews  laid  wait  for  him  as  he  was  about  to  sail "  from  Cen- 
chrea,  the  port  of  Corinth,  "  into  Syria,"  he  found  it  expedi- 
ent "to  return  through  Macedonia."'  Proceeding,  therefore, 
to  Philippi,'"  the  city  in  which  he  had  commenced  his  Euro- 

'  2  Cor.  ii.  4.  '  ur  rr]v  'Y.'k'kMa,  i.e.,  Achaia. 

'  Acts  XX.  2,  3.  *  Rom.  xvi.  i,  2,  23. 

'  Rom.  i.  8.  "  Rom.  xvi.  7,  1 1. 

'  Rom.  xvi.  3.  '  Acts  xix.  21  ;  Rom,  i.  10,  11,  xv.  23,  24. 

•  Ads  XX.  3.  '"  Acts  XX.  6, 


PAULS   JOURNEY   TO   JERUSALEM.  11/ 

pean  ministry,  he  passed  over  to  Troas  ; '  and  then  continued 
his  journey  along  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  On  his  arrival  at 
Miletus  "  he  sent  to  Ephesus,  and  called  the  elders  of  the 
Church  ;  and  when  they  were  come  to  him  "  he  delivered  to 
them  a  very  pathetic  pastoral  address,  and  bade  them  farewell.' 
At  the  conclusion,  "  he  kneeled  down  and  prayed  with  them 
all,  and  they  all  wept  sore,  and  fell  on  Paul's  neck,  and  kissed 
him,  sorrowing  most  of  all  for  the  words  which  he  spake 
that  they  should  see  his  face  no  more :  and  they  accom- 
panied him  unto  the  ship."  ^  He  now  pursued  his  course  to 
Jerusalem,  and  after  various  delays,  arrived  at  Caesarea. 
There,  says  Luke,  "  we  entered  into  the  house  of  Philip,  the 
evangelist,  which  was  one  of  the  seven,  and  abode  with  him."* 
In  Caesarea,  as  in  other  cities  through  which  he  had  already 
passed,  he  was  told  that  bonds  and  af^ictions  awaited  him  in 
the  place  of  his  destination ;'  but  he  was  not  thus  deterred 
from  pursuing  his  journey.  "  When  he  would  not  be  per- 
suaded," says  the  sacred  historian,  "  we  ceased,  saying.  The 
will  of  the  Lord  be  done,  and  after  those  days,  having  packed 
up, °  we  went  up  to  Jerusalem." '  The  apostle  and  his  com- 
panions reached  the  holy  city  about  the  time  of  the  feast  of 
Pentecost. 

Paul  was  well  aware  that  there  were  not  a  few,  even  among 
the  Christians  of  Palestine,  by  whom  he  was  regarded  with 
jealousy  or  dislike  ;  and  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  the 
agitation  for  the  observance  of  the  ceremonial  law,  which  had 
disturbed  the  Churches  of  Galatia,  had  been  promoted  by  the 
zealots  of  the  Hebrew  metropolis.  But  he  had  a  strong  at- 
tachment to  the  land  of  his  fathers  ;  and  he  felt  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  well-being  of  his  brethren  in  Judea.  They  were 
generally  in  indigent  circumstances  ;  for,  after  the  crucifixion, 

'  Acts  XX.  6.  '  Acts  XX.  17-35.  ^  Acts  xx.  36-38. 

*  Acts  xxi.  8.  ''  Acts  xx.  23,  xxi.  10,  11. 

^  kTriGKEvaaafiEvoi. — the  reading  adopted  by  Lachmann  and  others.  The 
word  "  carriages  "  used  in  the  authorized  version  for  baggage  or  luggage,  is 
now  unintelligible  to  the  English  reader.  The  word  "  carriage  "  is  also 
used  in  our  translation  in  Judges  xviii.  21,  and  I  Sam.  xvii.  22,  for  something 
to  be  carried.  '  Acts  xxi.  15. 


Il3  THE   COLLECTION   FOR   THE    POOR   SAINTS. 

when  the  Spirit  was  poured  out  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  those 
of  them  who  had  property  "  sold  their  possessions  and  goods, 
and  parted  them  to  all  men,  as  every  man  had  need  "; '  and, 
ever  since,  they  had  been  harassed  and  persecuted  by  their 
unbelieving  countrymen.  *'  The  poor  saints  "  in  Jerusalem  * 
had,  therefore,  peculiar  claims  on  the  kind  consideration  of 
the  disciples  in  other  lands  ;  and  Paul  had  been  making  col- 
lections for  their  benefit  among  their  richer  co-religionists  in 
Greece  and  Asia  Minor.  A  considerable  sum  had  been  thus 
provided  ;  and  that  there  might  be  no  misgivings  as  to  its 
right  appropriation,  individuals  chosen  by  the  contributors 
had  been  appointed  to  travel  with  the  apostle,  and  to  convey 
it  to  Jerusalem.'  The  number  of  the  deputies  was  seven, 
namely,  "  Sopater  of  Berea  ;  and  of  the  Thessalonians,  Aris- 
tarchus  and  Secundus  ;  and  Gains  of  Derbe,  and  Timotheus  ; 
and  of  Asia,  Tychicus  and  Trophimus."  ^  The  apostle  knew 
that  he  had  enemies  waiting  for  his  halting ;  and  as  they 
would  willingly  have  seized  on  any  apology  for  accusing  him 
of  tampering  with  this  collection,  he  deemed  it  prudent  to  put 
it  into  other  hands,  and  thus  place  himself  above  challenge. 
But  he  had  a  farther  reason  for  suggesting  the  appointment 
of  these  commissioners.  He  was  desirous  to  present  before 
his  brethren  in  Judea  a  specimen  of  the  men  who  constituted 
"  the  first-fruits  of  the  Gentiles  ";  and  as  all  the  deputies  se- 
lected to  accompany  him  to  Jerusalem  were  persons  of  an 
excellent  spirit,  he  reckoned  that  their  wise  and  winning 
behavior  would  do  much  to  disarm  the  hostility  of  those  who 
had  hitherto  contended  so  strenuously  for  the  observance  of 
the  Mosaic  ceremonies.  Solomon  has  said  that  "  a  man's  gift 
makcth  room  for  him  "; '  and  if  Gentile  converts  could  ever 
expect  a  welcome  reception  from  those  who  were  zealous  for 
the  law,  it  was  surely  when  they  appeared  as  the  bearers  of 
the  liberality  of  the  Gentile  Churches. 

When  the  apostle  and  his  companions  reached  the  Jewish 
capital,   "  the    brethren    received    them   gladly." "     Paul  was, 

'  Acts  ii.  45.  "  Rom.  xv.  26.  '  i  Cor.  x.i.  3 ;  2  Cor.  viii.  19. 

*  Acts  XX.  4.  '  Prov.  xviii.  16.  "  Acts  xxi.  17. 


PAUL   AT  JERUSALEM.  II9 

however,  given  to  understand  that,  as  he  was  charged  with 
encouraging  the  neglect  of  the  Mosaic  ceremonies,  he  must  be 
prepared  to  meet  a  large  amount  of  prejudice  ;  and  he  was 
accordingly  recommended  to  endeavor  to  pacify  the  multitude 
by  giving  some  public  proof  that  he  himself  "  walked  orderly 
and  kept  the  law." '  Acting  on  this  advice,  he  joined  with 
four  men  who  had  on  them  a  Nazaritic  vow ;  ^  and,  "  purifying 
himself  with  them,  entered  into  the  temple."  ^  When  there, 
he  was  observed  by  certain  Jews  from  Asia  Minor,  who  had 
become  acquainted  with  his  personal  appearance  during  his 
residence  in  Ephesus  ;  and  as  they  had  before  seen  him  in  the 
city  with  Trophimus,  one  of  the  seven  deputies  and  a  convert 
from  paganism,  whom  they  also  knew,*  they  immediately  con. 
eluded  that  he  had  now  some  Gentile  companions  along  with 
him,  and  that  he  was  encouraging  the  uncircumcised  to  pollute 
with  their  presence  the  sacred  court  of  the  Israelites.  A  tu- 
mult forthwith  ensued  ;  the  report  of  the  defilement  of  the 
holy  place  quickly  circulated  through  the  crowd  ;  "  all  the  city 
was  moved  ";'  the  people  ran  together  ;  and  Paul  was  seized 
and  dragged  out  of  the  temple.*  The  apostle  would  have 
fallen  a  victim  to  popular  fury  had  it  not  been  for  the  prompt 
interference  of  the  officer  who  had  the  command  of  the  Roman 
garrison  in  the  tower  of  Antonia.  This  stronghold  overlooked 
the  courts  of  the  sanctuary ;  and,  some  of  the  sentinels  on  duty 

'  Acts  xxi.  24. 

*  *'  It  was  customary  among  the  Jews  for  those  who  had  received  deliv- 
erance from  any  great  peril,  or  who  from  other  causes  desired  publicly  to 
testify  their  dedication  to  God,  to  take  upon  themselves  the  vow  of  a  Naz- 

arite No  rule  is  laid  down  (Numb,  vi.)  as  to  the  time  during  which 

this  life  of  ascetic  rigor  was  to  continue  ;  but  we  learn  from  the  Talmud 
and  Josephus  that  thirty  days  was  at  least  a  customary  period.  During 
this  time  the  Nazarite  was  bound  to  abstain  from  wine,  and  to  suffer  his 
hair  to  grow  uncut.  At  the  termination  of  the  period,  he  was  bound  to 
present  himself  in  the  temple,  with  certain  offerings,  and  his  hair  was  tiien 
cut  off  and  burnt  lapon  the  altar.  The  offerings  required  were  beyond  the 
means  of  the  very  poor,  and  consequently  it  was  thought  an  act  of  piety  for 
a  rich  man  to  pay  the  necessary  expenses,  and  thus  enable  his  poorer  coun- 
trymen to  complete  their  vow." — Conybeare  and  Hmvson,  ii.  250,  251. 

^  Acts  xxi.  26.  ^  Acts  xxi.  29.  ^  Acts  xxi.  30.  *  Acts  xxi.  30. 


120  PAUL  AT   JERUSALEM. 

immediately  gave  notice  of  the  commotion.  The  chief  cap- 
tain, whose  name  was  Claudius  Lysias,'  "  took  soldiers  and 
centurions,"  and  running  down  to  the  rioters,  arrived  in  time 
to  prevent  a  fatal  termination  of  the  affray  ;  for,  as  soon  as  the 
military  made  their  appearance,  the  assailants  "  left  beating  of 
Paul."'  "Then  the  chief  captain  came  near,  and  took  him, 
and  commanded  him  to  be  bound  with  two  chains,  and  de- 
manded who  he  was,  and  what  he  had  done.  And  some  cried 
one  thing,  some  another,  among  the  multitude,  and  when  he 
could  not  know  the  certainty  for  the  tumult,  he  commanded 
him  to  be  carried  into  the  castle."^  In  proceeding  thus,  the 
commanding  officer  acted  illegally ;  for,  as  Paul  was  a  Roman 
citizen,  he  should  not,  without  a  trial,  have  been  deprived  of 
his  liberty,  and  put  in  irons.  But  Lysias,  in  the  hurry  and 
confusion  of  the  moment  deceived  by  false  information,  had 
been  led  to  believe  that  his  prisoner  was  an  Egyptian,  a  noto- 
rious outlaw,  who,  "  before  these  days,"  had  created  much 
alarm  by  leading  "  out  into  the  wilderness  four  thousand  men 
that  were  murderers." '  He  was  astonished  to  find  that  the 
individual  whom  he  had  rescued  from  such  imminent  danger 
was  a  citizen  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia  who  could  speak  Greek  ;  and 
as  it  was  now  evident  that  there  existed  much  misapprehen- 
sion, the  apostle  was  permitted  to  stand  on  the  stairs  of  the 
fortress,  and  address  the  multitude.  When  they  saw  him  pre- 
paring to  make  some  statement,  the  noise  subsided  ;  and, 
"  when  they  heard  that  he  spake  to  them  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue  " — that  is,  in  the  Aramaic,  the  current  language  of  the 
country — "  they  kept  the  more  silence." ''  Paul  accordingly 
proceeded  to  give  an  account  of  his  early  life,  of  the  remarka- 
ble circumstances  of  his  conversion,  and  of  his  subsequent 

'  Acts  xxiii.  26.  "  Acts  xxi.  32. 

3  Acts  xxi.  33,  34.     There  were  barracks  in  the  tower  of  Antonia. 

*  Acts  xxi.  38.  "Assassins  is  in  the  original  a  Greek  inflection  of  the 
Latin  word  Sicarii,  so  called  from  Sica,  a  short  sword  or  daj^^ger,  and  de- 
scribed by  Josephus  as  a  kind  of  robbers  who  concealed  sliort  swords  be- 
neath their  garments,  and  infested  Judea  in  the  period  preceding  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem." — Alexander  on  the  Acts,  ii.  289. 

'  Acts  xxii.  2. 


PAUL  AT   C^SAREA.  121 

career ;  but,  when  he  mentioned  his  mission  to  the  Gentiles, 
it  was  at  once  apparent  that  the  topic  was  most  unpopular, 
for  his  auditors  lost  all  patience.  "  They  gave  him  audience 
unto  this  word,  and  then  lifted  up  their  voices  and  said.  Away 
with  such  a  fellow  from  the  earth,  for  it  is  not  fit  that  he 
should  live.  And  as  they  cried  out,  and  cast  off  their  clothes, 
and  threw  dust  into  the  air,  the  chief  captain  commanded  him 
to  be  brought  into  the  castle." ' 

The  confinement  of  Paul,  which  commenced  at  the  feast  of 
Pentecost  in  A.D.  58,  continued  about  five  years.  It  may  be 
enough  to  notice  the  mere  outline  of  his  history  during  this 
tedious  bondage.  In  the  first  place,  for  the  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining the  exact  nature  of  the  charge  against  him,  he  was 
confronted  with  the  Sanhedrim ;  but  when  he  informed  them 
that  "  of  the  hope  and  resurrection  of  the  dead  he  was  called 
in  question,"  '  there  "  arose  a  dissension  between  the  Pharisees 
and  the  Sadducees  "  '  constituting  the  council ;  and  the  chief 
captain,  fearing  lest  his  prisoner  "  should  have  been  pulled  in 
pieces  of  them,  commanded  the  soldiers  to  go  down,  and  to 
take  him  by  force  from  among  them,  and  to  bring  him  into 
the  castle."*  Certain  of  the  Jews,  about  forty  in  number, 
now  entered  into  a  conspiracy,  binding  themselves  "  under  a 
curse,  saying  that  they  would  neither  eat  nor  drink  till  they 
had  killed  Paul  ";'  and  it  was  arranged  that  the  bloody  vow 
should  be  executed  when,  under  pretence  of  a  new  examina- 
tion, he  was  brought  again  before  the  Sanhedrim ;  but  their 
proceedings  meanwhile  became  known  to  the  apostle's  nephew  ; 
the  chief  captain  received  timely  information  ;  and  the  scheme 
thus  miscarried."  Paul,  protected  by  a  strong  military  escort, 
was  now  sent  away  by  night  to  Caesarea ;  and,  when  there, 
was  repeatedly  examined  before  Felix,  the  Roman  magistrate 
who  at  this  time,  under  the  title  of  Procurator,  had  the  gov- 
ernment of  Judea.  The  historian  Tacitus  says  of  this  im- 
perial functionary  that  "  in  the  practice  of  all  kinds  of  cruelty 
and  lust,  he  exercised  the  power  of  a  king  with  the  mind  of  a 

■  Acts  xxii.  22-24.  2  Acts  xxiii.  6.  »  Acts  xxiii.  7. 

^  Acts  xxiii.  10,  ^  Acts  xxiii.  12,  21.  ^  Acts  xxiii.  16,  23,  30. 


•  122  PAUL  AT   C/ESAREA. 

slave  "; '  and  it  is  a  remarkable  proof,  as  well  of  the  intrepid 
faithfulness,  as  of  the  eloquence  of  the  apostle,  that  he  suc- 
ceeded in  arresting  the  attention,  and  in  alarming  the  fears  of 
this  worthless  profligate.  Drusilla,  his  wife,  a  woman  who 
had  deserted  her  former  husband,'  was  a  Jewess  ;  and,  as  she 
was  desirous  to  see  and  hear  the  great  Christian  preacher  who 
had  been  laboring  with  so  much  zeal  to  propagate  his  prin- 
ciples throughout  the  Empire,  Paul,  to  satisfy  her  curiosity, 
was  brought  into  her  presence.  But  an  interview,  designed 
merely  for  the  amusement  of  the  Procurator  and  his  partner, 
soon  assumed  an  appearance  of  the  deepest  solemnity.  As 
the  grave  and  earnest  orator  went  on  to  expound  the  faith  of 
the  Gospel,  and  "  as  he  reasoned  of  righteousness,  temperance, 
and  judgment  to  come,  Felix  trembled."  ^  His  apprehen- 
sions, however,  soon  passed  away,  and  though  he  was  fully 
convinced  that  Paul  had  not  incurred  any  legal  penalty,  he 
continued  to  keep  him  in  confinement,  basely  expecting  to 
obtain  a  bribe  for  his  liberation.  When  disappointed  in  this 
hope,  he  still  perversely  refused  to  set  him  at  liberty.  Thus, 
"  after  two  years,"  when  "  Porcius  Festus  came  into  Felix's 
room,"  the  ex-Procurator,  "willing  to  show  the  Jews  a  pleas- 
ure, left  Paul  bound." ' 

The  apostle  was  soon  required  to  appear  before  the  new 
Governor.  Festus  has  left  behind  him  the  reputation  of  an 
equitable  judge  ; '  and  though  he  was  most  desirous  to  secure 
the  good  opinion  of  the  Jews,  he  could  not  be  induced  by 
them  to  act  with  palpable  injustice.  After  he  had  brought 
them  down  to  Caesarea,  and  listened  to  their  complaints 
against  the  prisoner,  he  perceived  that  they  could  convict  him 
of  no  violation  of  the  law ;  but  he  proposed  to  gratify  them 
so  far  as  to  have  the  case  reheard  in  the  holy  city.  Paul, 
however,  well  knew  that  they  only  sought  such  an  oppor- 
tunity to  compass  his  assassination,  and    therefore  peremp- 

>  "  Per  omnem  SEevitam  ac  libidinem  jus  regium  servili  ingenio  exercuit." 
— Hist.  V.  9. 

*  Josephus'  "  Antiq."  xx.  c.  7,  §§  i,  2. 

«  Acts  xxiv.  25.  "  Acts  xxiv.  27. 

*  See  some  account  of  him  in  Josephus'  "  Antiq."  xx.  c.  8,  §§  9,  10. 


PAUL  AT   C^SAREA.  1 23 

torily  refused  to  consent  to  the  arrangement.  "I  stand," 
said  he,  "  at  Caesar's  judgment-seat,  where  I  ought  to  be 
judged.  To  the  Jews  have  I  done  no  wrong,  as  thou  very 
well  knowest.  For  if  I  be  an  offender,  or  have  committed 
anything  worthy  of  death,  I  refuse  not  to  die ;  but  if  there  be 
none  of  these  things  whereof  these  accuse  me,  no  man  may 
deliver  me  unto  them.     I  appeal  unto  CcEsary  ^ 

The  right  of  appeal  from  the  decision  of  an  inferior  tri- 
bunal to  the  Emperor  himself  was  one  of  the  great  privileges 
of  a  Roman  citizen ;  and  no  magistrate  could  refuse  to  recog- 
nize it  without  exposing  himself  to  condign  punishment. 
There  were,  indeed,  a  few  exceptional  cases  of  a  flagrant  char- 
acter in  which  such  an  appeal  could  not  be  received ;  and 
Festus  here  consulted  with  his  assessors  to  ascertain  in  what 
light  the  law  contemplated  that  of  the  apostle.  They  de- 
cided, however,  that  he  was  at  perfect  liberty  to  demand  a 
hearing  before  the  tribunal  of  Nero.  "  Then,"  says  the 
evangelist,  "  when  Festus  had  conferred  with  the  council,  he 
answered,  Hast  thou  appealed  unto  Caesar  ?  Unto  Caesar 
shalt  thou  go."  "^ 

The  Procurator  was  placed  in  an  awkward  position;  for, 
when  sending  Paul  to  Rome,  he  was  required  at  the  same 
time  to  report  the  crimes  imputed  to  the  prisoner ;  but  the 
charges  were  so  novel  and  so  frivolous,  that  he  did  not  well 
know  how  to  embody  them  in  an  intelligible  document. 
Meanwhile  King  Agrippa  and  his  sister  Bernice  came  to 
Caesarea  *'  to  salute  Festus,"  '  that  is,  to  congratulate  the 
new  Governor  on  his  arrival  in  the  country;. and  the  royal 
party  expressed  a  desire  to  hear  what  the  apostle  had  to 
say  in  his  vindication.  Agrippa  was  great-grandson  of  that 
Herod  who  reigned  in  Judea  when  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethle- 
hem, and  the  son  of  the  monarch  of  the  same  name  whose 
sudden  and  awful  death  is  recorded  in  the  twelfth  chapter 
of  the  Acts.     On  the   demise   of  his   father   in   A.D.   44,  he 

'  Acts  XXV.  II.  ^  Acts  XXV.  12. 

'  Acts  XXV.  13.  Festus  appears  to  have  been  Procurator  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  autumn  of  A.D.  60  to  the  summer  of  A.D.  62.  FeHx  was  re- 
called A.D.  60.     See  Conybeare  and  Howson,  Appendix  ii.  note  (C). 


124  PAUL  AT   C.ESAREA. 

was  only  seventeen  years  of  age  ;  and  Judea,  which  was  then 
reduced  into  the  form  of  a  Roman  province  with  Caesarea 
for  its  capital,  had  remained  ever  since  under  the  gov- 
ernment of  Procurators.  But  though  Agrippa  had  not 
been  permitted  to  succeed  to  the  dominions  of  his  father, 
he  had  received  various  proofs  of  imperial  favor;  for  he 
had  obtained  the  government,  first  of  the  principality  of 
Chalcis,  and  then  of  several  other  districts ;  and  he  had 
been  honored  with  the  title  of  King.'  The  Gentile  Procura- 
tors were  seldom  acquainted  with  the  ritual  and  polity  of 
Israel ;  but  as  Agrippa  was  a  Jew,  and  consequently  familiar 
with  the  customs  and  sentiments  of  the  native  population,  he 
had  been  intrusted  with  the  care  of  the  temple  and  its  treas- 
ures, as  well  as  with  the  appointment  of  the  high-priest. 
Festus  felt  that,  in  the  case  of  Paul,  the  advice  of  this  visitor 
should  be  solicited ;  and  hoped  to  obtain  from  Agrippa  some 
suggestion  to  relieve  him  out  of  his  present  perplexity.  It  was 
accordingly  arranged  that  the  apostle  should  plead  his  cause 
in  the  hearing  of  the  Jewish  monarch.  The  affair  created  un- 
usual interest ;  the  public  were  partially  admitted  on  the  occa- 
sion ;  and  rarely  or,  perhaps,  never  before,  had  Paul  enjoyed 
an  opportunity  of  addressing  such  an  influential  and  brilliant 
auditory.  "Agrippa  came,  and  Bernice,  with  great  pomp,  and 
entered  into  the  place  of  hearing,  with  the  chief  captains,  and 
principal  men  of  the  city."'  Paul,  still  in  bonds,  made  his  ap- 
pearance before  this  courtly  throng ;  and  though  a  two  years' 
confinement  might  well  have  broken  the  spirit  of  the  prisoner, 
he  displayed  powers  of  argument  and  eloquence  which  aston- 
ished and  confounded  his  judges.  The  Procurator  was  quite 
bewildered  by  his  reasoning,  for  he  appealed  to  "the  promise 
made  unto  the  fathers,"  '  and  to  things  which  "  Moses  and  the 
prophets  did  say  should  come  ";  *  and  as  Festus  could  not  ap- 
preciate the  lofty  enthusiasm  of  the  Christian  orator  (for  he 
had  never,  when  at  Rome,  been  accustomed  to  hear  the  advo- 
cates of  heathenism  plead  so  earnestly  in  its  defence),  he  "  said 
with  a  loud  voice,  Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself;  much  learn- 

'  Joscphus'  "  Wars,"  ii.  c.  12,  §  8  ;  "  Antiq."  xx.  c.  5,  §  2. 

"Acts  XXV.  23.  "Acts  xxvi.  6.  *  Acts  xxvi.  22. 


PAUL   AT   C^SAREA.  1 25 

ing  doth  make  thee  mad."  '  But  the  apostle's  self-possession 
was  in  nowise  shaken  by  this  blunt  charge.  "  I  am  not  mad, 
most  noble  Festus,"  he  replied,  "  but  speak  forth  the  words  of 
truth  and  soberness  ";  and  then,  turning  to  the  royal  stranger, 
vigorously  pressed  home  his  argument.  "  King  Agrippa,"  he 
exclaimed,  "  believest  thou  the  prophets?  I  know  that  thou 
believest."  ^  The  King,  thus  challenged,  was  a  libertine ;  and 
at  this  very  time  was  believed  to  be  living  in  incestuous  inter- 
course with  his  sister  Bernice;  and  yet  he  seems  to  have 
been  staggered  by  Paul's  solemn  and  pointed  interrogatory. 
"Almost,"  said  he,  "  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian." " 
It  has  been  thought  by  some  that  these  words  were  uttered 
with  a  sneer ;  but  whatever  may  have  been  the  frivolity  of  the 
Jewish  King,  they  elicited  from  the  apostle  one  of  the  noblest 
rejoinders  that  ever  issued  from  human  lips,  "  And  Paul  said,  I 
would  to  God  that  riot  only  thou,  but  also  all  that  hear  me  this 
day,  were  both  almost  and  altogether  such  as  I  am,  except 
these  bonds." ' 

The  singularly  able  defence  made  by  the  apostle  convinced 
his  judges  of  the  futility  of  the  charges  preferred  against  him 
by  the  Sanhedrim.  But  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  it  was 
no  longer  practicable  to  quash  the  prosecution.  When  Paul 
concluded  his  address  "  the  king  rose  up,  and  the  governor,  and 
Bernice,  and  they  that  sat  with  them.  And  when  they  were 
gone  aside,  they  talked  between  themselves,  saying.  This  man 
doeth  nothing  worthy  of  death  or  of  bonds.  Then  said  Agrippa 
unto  Festus,  This  man  might  have  been  set  at  liberty,  if  he 
had  not  appealed  unto  Caesar."  ^ 

At  first  sight  it  appears  extraordinary  that  so  eminent  a  mis- 
sionary in  the  meridian  of  his  usefulness  was  subjected  to  so 
long  an  imprisonment.  But  "  God's  ways  are  not  as  our  ways, 
nor  his  thoughts  as  our  thoughts."  When  thus,  to  a  great 
extent,  laid  aside  from  official  duty,  he  had  ample  time  to 

1  Acts  xxiv.  24.  *  Acts  xxvi.  27. 

'  Acts  xxvi.  28.  Some  translate  h  oXtyu  "  in  short,"  instead  of  "  almost." 
The  revised  English  version  reads,  "  With  but  little  persuasion  thou  wouldest 
fain  make  me  a  Christian." 

*  Acts  xxvi.  29.  ^  Acts  xxvi.  30-32. 


126  PAUL'S   IMPRISONMENT. 

commune  with  his  own  heart,  and  to  trace  out  with  adoring 
wonder  the  glorious  grace  and  the  manifold  wisdom  of  the 
work  of  redemption.  Having  himself  partaken  largely  of  afflic- 
tion, and  experienced  the  sustaining  power  of  the  Gospel  so 
abundantly,  he  was  the  better  prepared  to  comfort  the  dis- 
tressed ;  and  hence  his  letters,  written  at  this  period,  are  so 
full  of  consolation.'  And  apart  from  other  considerations,  we 
may  here  recognize  the  fulfilment  of  a  prophetic  announce- 
ment. When  Paul  was  converted,  the  Lord  said  to  Ananias : 
"  He  is  a  chosen  vessel  unto  me  to  bear  my  name  before  the 
Gentiles,  and  kings,  and  the  children  of  Israel,  for  I  will  show 
him  how  great  things  he  must  suffer  for  my  name's  sake.'" 
During  his  protracted  confinement  he  exhibited  alike  to  Jew 
and  Gentile  an  illustrious  specimen  of  faith  and  constancy; 
and  called  attention  to  the  truth  in  many  quarters  where  other- 
wise it  might  have  remained  unknown.  Though  he  was  chained 
to  a  soldier,  he  was  not  kept  in  very  rigorous  custody,  so  that 
he  had  frequent  opportunities  of  proclaiming  the  great  salva- 
tion. He  was  peculiarly  fitted  by  his  education  and  his  geni- 
us for  expounding  Christianity  to  persons  moving  in  the  upper 
circles  of  society ;  and  had  he  remained  at  liberty  he  could 
have  gained  access  very  rarely  to  such  auditors.  But  already, 
as  a  prisoner,  he  had  pleaded  the  claims  of  the  Gospel  before 
no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  aristocracy  of  Palestine.  He 
had  been  heard  by  the  chief  captain  in  command  of  the  garri- 
son in  the  castle  of  Antonia,  by  the  Sanhedrim,  by  Felix  and 
Drusilla,  by  Festus,  by  King  Agrippa  and  his  sister  Bernice, 
and  by  "the  principal  men"  of  both  Caesarea  and  Jerusalem. 
In  criminal  cases  the  appeals  of  Roman  citizens  were  heard  by 
the  Emperor  himself,  so  that  the  apostle  was  about  to  appear 
as  an  ambassador  for  Christ  in  the  presence  of  the  greatest  of 
earth's  potentates.  Who  can  tell  but  that  some  of  that  splen- 
did assembly  of  senators  and  nobles  who  surrounded  Nero, 
when  Paul  was  brought  before  his  judgment-seat,  will  have 

'  Eph.  vi.  22 ;  Phil.  ii.  1,2;  Col.  i.  24,  iv.  8 ;  Philcm.  7,  compared  with  2 
Cor.  i.  3,  4- 

"Acts  ix.  15,  16. 


PAUL'S   SHIPWRECK.  12/ 

reason  throughout  all  eternity  to  remember  the  occasion  as  the 
birthday  of  their  blessedness  ! 

The  apostle  and  "certain  other  prisoners"  embarked  for 
Rome  in  the  autumn  of  A.D.  60.  The  compass  was  then  un- 
known ;  in  weather,  "  when  neither  sun  nor  stars  in  many 
days  appeared,"  '  the  mariner  was  without  a  guide  ;  and,  late 
in  the  season,  navigation  was  peculiarly  dangerous.  The  voy- 
age proved  disastrous ;  after  passing  into  a  second  vessel  at 
Myra,*  a  city  of  Lycia,  Paul  and  his  companions  were  wrecked 
on  the  coast  of  the  island  of  Malta  ; '  when  they  had  remained 
there  three  months,  they  set  sail  once  more  in  a  corn  ship  of 
Alexandria,  the  Castor  and  Pollux  ;''  and  at  length,  in  the  early 
part  of  A.D.  61,  reached  the  harbor  of  Puteoli,"  then  the  great 
shipping  port  of  Italy. 

The  account  of  the  voyage  from  Csesarea  to  Puteoli,  as 
given  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  is  one  of  the  most  curious 
passages  to  be  found  in  the  whole  of  the  sacred  volume. 
Some  may  think  it  strange  that  the  inspired  historian 
enters  so  much  into  details,  and  the  nautical  terms  which 
he  employs  puzzle  not  a  few  readers  ;  but  these  features  of 
his  narrative  attest  its  authenticity  and  genuineness.  No 
one,  who  had  not  himself  shared  the  perils  of  the  scene, 
could  have  described  with  so  much  accuracy  the  circumstances 
of  the  shipwreck.  After  the  lapse  of  eighteen  hundred  years, 
the  references  of  the  evangelist  to  prevailing  winds  and  cur- 

'  Acts  xxvii.  This  part  of  the  history  of  the  apostle  has  been  illustrated 
with  singular  ability  by  James  Smith,  Esq.,  of  Jordanhill,  in  his  "  Voyage  and 
Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul." 

-Acts  xxvii.  5,  6. 

'Acts  xxviii.  i.  That  Melita  is  Malta  has  been  conclusively  established 
by  Smith  in  his  "  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul."    "  Dissertation,"  ii. 

■•  Acts  xxviii.  11.  "  With  regard  to  the  dimensions  of  the  ships  of  the  an- 
cients, some  of  them  must  have  been  quite  equal  to  the  largest  merchant- 
men of  the  present  day.  The  ship  of  St.  Paul  had,  in  passengers  and  crew, 
276  persons  on  board,  besides  her  cargo  of  wheat,  and  as  they  were  carried 
on  by  another  ship  of  the  same  class,  she  must  also  have  been  of  great  size. 
The  ship  in  which  Josephus  was  wrecked  contained  600  people." — Smith's 
"Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,"  p.  147. 

^Acts  xxviii.  13. 


128  PAULS   SHIPWRECK. 

rents,  to  the  indentations  of  the  coast,  to  islands,  bays,  and 
harbors,  may  still  be  exactly  verified.  Recent  investigators 
have  demonstrated  that  the  sailors,  in  the  midst  of  danger, 
displayed  no  little  ability,  and  that  their  conduct  in  "  under- 
girding  the  ship,"  '  and  in  casting  "  four  anchors  out  of  the 
stern,""  evidenced  their  skilful  seamanship.  Luke  states  that, 
after  a  long  period  of  anxiety  and  abstinence,  "  about  mid- 
night the  shipmen  deemed  that  they  drew  near  to  some 
country,"  ^  The  headland  they  were  approaching  is  very  low, 
and  in  a  stormy  night  is  said  to  be  invisible  even  at  the  dis- 
tance of  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ;  *  but  the  sailors  detect  the  shore 
by  other  indications.  Even  in  a  storm  t/ie  roar  of  breakers 
can  be  distinguished  from  other  sounds  by  the  practiced  ear 
of  a  mariner ;  ^  and  it  can  be  shown  that,  with  such  a  gale  as 
was  then  blowing,  the  sea  still  dashes  with  amazing  violence 
against  the  very  same  point  of  land  off  which  Paul  and  his 
companions  were  that  night  laboring.  In  the  depth  of  the 
water  at  the  place  there  is  another  most  remarkable  coinci- 
dence. The  sailors  "  sounded  and  found  it  tiventy  fathoms, 
and  when  they  had  gone  a  little  farther,  they  sounded,  and 
found  it  fifteen  fathoms."'^  "But  what,"  observes  a  modern 
writer,  "  are  the  soundings  at  this  point }  They  are  now  tiventy 
fathoms.  If  we  proceed  a  little  farther  we  ^ndi  fifteen  fathoms. 
It  may  be  said  that  this,  in  itself,  is  nothing  remarkable.  But 
if  we  add  that  the  fifteen-fathom  depth  is  in  the  direction  of 
the  vessel's  drift  (W.  by  N.)  from  the  twenty-fathom  depth, 
the  coincidence  is  startling." '     It  may  be  stated  also  that  the 

'  Acts  xxvii.  17. 

"  Acts  xxvii.  29.  "  The  ancient  vessels  did  not  carry,  in  general,  so  large 
anchors  as  those  which  we  employ;  and  hence  they  had  often  a  greater 
number  of  them.  Athenasus  mentions  a  ship  which  had  eight  iron  anchors." 
— Hackett,  p.  372. 

*  Acts  xxvii.  27. 

*  "  When  the  Lively,  frigate,  unexpectedly  fell  in  with  this  very  point,  the 
quartermaster  on  the  look-out,  who  first  observed  it,  states,  in  his  evidence 
at  the  court-martial,  that,  at  the  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  vtile,  the  land 
could  not  be  seen." — Smith's  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,  pp.  89.  90. 

■*  Hackett,  p.  371.        '  Acts  xxvii.        '  Conybeare  and  Hovvson,  ii.  351. 


Paul's  shipwreck.  129 

"  creek  with  a  shore"'  or  sandy  beach,  and  the  "  place  where 
two  seas  met,'"  and  where  "  they  ran  the  ship  aground,"  may 
still  be  recognized  in  what  is  now  called  St.  Paul's  Bay  at 
Malta.^  Even  in  the  nature  of  the  submarine  strata  we  have 
a  most  striking  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  inspired  his- 
tory. It  appears  that  the  four  anchors  cast  out  of  the  stern 
retained  their  hold,  and  it  is  well  known  that  the  ground  in 
St.  Paul's  Bay  is  remarkably  firm  ;  for  in  our  English  sailing 
directions  it  is  mentioned  that  "  while  the  cables  hold,  there  is 
no  danger,  as  the  anchors  will  never  start."*  Luke  reports 
that  when  the  ship  ran  aground,  "  the  forepart  stuck  fast  and 
remained  unmovable"* — a  statement  which  is  corroborated 
by  the  fact  that  "  the  bottom  is  mud  graduating  into  tenacious 
clay " ' — exactly  the  species  of  deposit  from  which  such  a 
result  might  be  anticipated. 

When  Paul  landed  at  Puteoli,  he  must  have  contemplated 
with  deep  emotion  the  prospect  of  his  arrival  in  Rome.  The 
city  to  which  he  now  approached  contained,  perhaps,  upwards 
of  a  million  of  human  beings.'  But  the  amount  of  its  inhab- 
itants was  one  of  the  least  remarkable  of  its  extraordinary  dis- 
tinctions. It  was  the  capital  of  the  mightiest  empire  that  had 
ever  yet  existed  ;  one  hundred  races  speaking  one  hundred 
languages  were  under  its  dominion;*  and  the  sceptre  which 
ruled  so  many  subject  provinces  was  wielded  by  an  absolute 
potentate.  This  great  autocrat  was  the  high-priest  of  heathen- 
ism—  thus  combining  the  grandeur  of  temporal  majesty  with 
the  sacredness  of  religious  elevation.     Senators  and  generals, 

'  Acts  xxvii.  39.  "  Acts  xxvii.  41. 

'  Smith's  "  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,"  p.  102. 

*  Smith's  "Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,"  p.  92. 
'  Acts  xxvii.  41. 

^  Smith's  "  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,"  p.  104. 

'  Conybeare  and  Howson  make  the  population  more  than  2,000,000  (li. 
376).  Merivale  reduces  it  to  something  less  than  700,000  (iv.  520).  In 
Smith's  "  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Geography  "  it  is  stated  as  up- 
wards of  2,000,000.  GresweU  makes  it  about  1,000,000  ("  Dissertations," 
iv.  46.)  Dean  Milman  reckons  it  from  1,000,000  to  1,500,000  ("History  of 
Latin  Christianity,"  i.  23). 

*  Merivale,  iv.  391. 

9 


130  THE   CITY  OF  ROME. 

petty  kings  and  provincial  governors,  were  all  obliged  to  bow 
obsequiously  to  his  mandates.  In  this  vast  metropolis  might 
be  found  natives  of  almost  every  clime  ;  some  engaged  in  its 
trade  ;  some  who  had  travelled  to  it  from  distant  countries  to 
solicit  the  imperial  favor ;  some,  like  Paul.,  conveyed  to  it  as 
prisoners  ;  some  stimulated  to  visit  it  by  curiosity  ;  and  some 
attracted  to  it  by  the  vague  hope  of  bettering  their  condition. 
The  city  of  the  Caesars  has  well  been  described  as  "  sitting 
upon  many  waters "; '  for,  though  fourteen  or  fifteen  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  the  mistress  of  the  world  was 
placed  on  a  peninsula  stretching  out  into  the  middle  of  a  great 
inland  sea  over  which  she  reigned  without  a  rival.  In  the 
summer  months  almost  every  part  of  every  country  along  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean  sent  forth  vessels  freighted  with 
cargoes  for  the  merchants  of  Rome."  The  fleet  from  Alex- 
andria laden  with  wheat  for  the  supply  of  the  city  was  treated 
with  peculiar  honor  ;  for  its  ships  alone  were  permitted  to 
hoist  their  topsails  as  they  approached  the  shore  ;  a  deputation 
of  senators  awaited  its  arrival ;  and,  as  soon  as  it  appeared, 
the  whole  surrounding  population  streamed  to  the  pier,  and 
observed  the  day  as  a  general  jubilee.  But  an  endless  supply 
of  other  articles  in  which  the  poor  were  less  interested  found 
their  way  to  Rome.  The  mines  of  Spain  furnished  the  great 
capital  with  gold  and  silver,  whilst  its  sheep  yielded  wool  of 
superior  excellence  ;  and,  in  those  times  of  Roman  conquest, 
slaves  were  often  transported  from  the  shores  of  Britain.  The 
horses  and  chariots  and  fine  linen  of  Egypt,  the  gums  and 
spices  and  silk  and  ivory  and  pearls  of  India,  the  Chian  and 
the  Lesbian  wines,  and  the  beautiful  marble  of  Greece  and 
Asia  Minor,  all  met  with  purchasers  in  the  mighty  metrop- 
olis.' As  John  surveyed  in  vision  the  fall  of  Rome,  and  as 
he  thought  of  the  almost  countless  commodities  which  minis- 
tered to  her  insatiable  luxury,  well  might  he  represent  the 
world's  traffic  as  destroyed  by  the  catastrophe ;  and  well  might 
he  speak  of  the  merchants  of  the  earth  as  weeping  and  mourn- 

'  Rev.  xvii.  i.  *  Merivale,  iv.  412.  ^  Merivale,  iv.  414-420. 


PAUL   AT   ROME. 


131 


ing  over  her,  because  "  no  man  buyeth  their  merchandise  any 
more." ' 

Paul  had  often  desired  to  prosecute  his  ministry  in  the  im- 
perial city;  for  he  knew  that  if  Christianity  obtained  a  firm 
footing  in  that  great  centre  of  civilization  and  of  power,  its 
influence  would  soon  be  transmitted  to  the  ends  of  the  earth ; 
but  he  appeared  there  under  circumstances  equally  painful  and 
discouraging.  And  yet  even  in  this  embarrassing  position  he 
was  not  overwhelmed  with  despondency.  At  Puteoli  he 
"  found  brethren,'"'  and  through  the  indulgence  of  Julius,  the 
centurion  to  whose  care  he  was  committed,  he  was  courteously 
allowed  to  spend  a  week'  with  the  little  Church  of  which  they 
were  members.  He  now  set  out  on  his  way  to  the  metropolis  ; 
but  the  intelligence  of  his  arrival  had  travelled  before  him,  and 
after  crossing  the  Pomptine  marshes,  he  was  delighted  to  find 
a  number  of  Christian  friends  from  Rome  assembled  at  Appii 
Forum  to  tender  to  him  the  assurances  of  their  sympathy  and 
affection.  The  place  was  twenty-seven  miles  from  the  capital ; 
and  yet,  at  a  time  when  travelling  was  so  tedious  and  so  irk- 
some, they  had  undertaken  this  lengthened  journey  to  visit 
the  poor,  weather-beaten,  and  tempest-tossed  prisoner.  At  the 
Three  Taverns,  ten  miles  nearer  to  the  city,  he  met  another 
party  of  disciples*  anxious  to  testify  their  attachment  to  so 
distinguished  a  servant  of  their  Divine  Master.  These  tokens 
of  respect  and  love  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  susceptible 
mind  of  the  apostle;  and  when  he  saw  the  brethren,  "he 
thanked  God  and  took  courage."  ' 

The  important  services  he  had  been  able  to  render  on  the 
voyage  gave  him  a  claim  to  particular  indulgence ;  and  accord- 
ingly, when  he  reached  Rome,  and  when  the  centurion  deliv- 
ered the  prisoners  to  the  Praetorian  Prefect,  or  the  command- 
er-in-chief  of  the   Praetorian  guards,'  "  Paul  was   suffered    to 

'  Rev.  xviii.  11.  ^  Acts  xxviii.  14.  =*  Acts  xxviii.  14. 

*  Acts  xxviii.  15.  ^  Acts  xxviii.  15. 

^  Called  in  our  English  version,  "  the  captain  of  the  guard."  The  cele- 
brated Burrus  was  at  this  time  (a.d.  61)  the  Praetorian  Prefect.  Wieseler, 
p.  393,     See  also  Greswell's  "Dissertations,"  iv.  p.  199. 


13  2  PAUL   AT   ROME. 

dwell  by  himself  with  a  soldier  that  kept  him." '  But  though 
he  enjoyed  this  comparative  liberty,  he  was  chained  to  his 
military  care-taker,  so  that  his  position  was  still  very  far  from 
comfortable.  And  yet  even  thus  he  continued  his  ministry 
with  as  much  ardor  as  if  he  had  been  without  restraint,  and 
as  if  he  had  been  cheered  on  by  the  applause  of  his  genera- 
tion. Three  days  after  his  arrival  in  the  city  he  "  called  the 
chief  of  the  Jews  together,"  *  and  gave  them  an  account  of  the 
circumstances  of  his  committal,  and  of  his  appeal  to  the  im- 
perial tribunal.  They  informed  him  that  his  case  had  not 
been  reported  to  them  by  their  brethren  in  Judea,  and  then 
expressed  a  desire  to  hear  from  him  a  statement  of  the  claims 
of  Christianity.  "  And  when  they  had  appointed  him  a  day, 
there  came  many  to  him  into  his  lodging,  to  whom  he  ex- 
pounded and  testified  the  kingdom  of  God,  persuading  them 
concerning  Jesus,  both  out  of  the  law  of  Moses  and  out  of  the 
prophets,  from  morning  till  evening."  *  His  appeals  produced 
a  favorable  impression  on  only  a  part  of  his  audience.  "  Some 
believed  the  things  which  were  spoken  and  some  believed  not."* 
Several  years  prior  to  this  date  a  Christian  Church  existed 
in  the  Western  metropolis,  and  at  this  time  there  were  prob- 
ably several  ministers  in  the  city ;  but  the  apostle  now  en- 
tered on  a  field  of  labor  which  had  not  hitherto  been  occu- 
pied. He  "  dwelt  two  whole  years  in  his  own  hired  house, 
and  received  all  that  came  in  unto  him — preaching  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  teaching  those  things  which  concern  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all  confidence,  no  man  forbidding 
him." '  All  this  time  Paul's  right  hand  was  chained  to  the 
left  hand  of  a  soldier,  who  was  responsible  for  the  safe  keeping 
of  his  prisoner.  The  soldiers  relieved  each  other  in  this  duty.* 
Paul's  chain  was  relaxed  at  meal-times,  and  perhaps  he  was 
occasionally  granted  some  little  additional  indulgence;  but 
day  and  night  he  and  his  care-taker  remained  in  close  proxim- 
ity, as  the  life  of  the  soldier  was  forfeited  should  his  ward  es- 
cape.    We  can  well  conceive  that  the  very  appearance  of  the 

'  Acts  xxviii.  i6.  '  Acts  xxviii.  17.  '  Acts  xxviii.  23. 

*  Acts  xxviii.  24.       '  Acts  xxviii.  31.       "  Conybeare  and  Howson,  ii.  296. 


PAUL   AT    ROME.  1 33 

preacher  at  this  period  invited  special  attention  to  his  minis- 
trations. He  was  "  Paul  the  aged."  '  He  had  perhaps  passed 
the  verge  of  three-score  years  ;  and  though  his  detractors  had 
formerly  objected  to  "  his  bodily  presence  as  weak,"  '  all  would 
at  this  time  have  probably  admitted  that  his  aspect  was  ven- 
erable. His  life  had  been  a  career  of  unabated  exertion  ;  and, 
though  worn  down  by  toils  and  hardships  and  imprisonments, 
his  zeal  burned  with  unquenched  ardor.  As  the  soldier  who 
kept  him  belonged  to  the  Praetorian  guards,  the  apostle  spent 
much  of  his  time  in  the  neighborhood  of  their  quarters  on  the 
Palatine  hill";'  and  as  he  was  now  so  conversant  with  military 
sights  and  sounds,  we  may  account  for  some  of  the  allusions 
to  be  found  in  his  epistles  written  during  this  confinement. 
Thus,  he  speaks  of  Archippus  and  Epaphroditus  as  his  "  fel- 
low soldiers ";  *  and  he  exhorts  his  brethren  to  "  put  on  the 
whole  armor  of  God,"  including  "  the  breast-plate  of  right- 
eousness, the  shield  of  faith,  the  helmet  of  salvation,  and  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit."  '  As  the  indefatigable  old  man,  with  the 
soldier  who  had  charge  of  him,  passed  from  house  to  house  in- 
viting attendance  on  his  services,  the  very  appearance  of  such 
"yoke-fellows"'  created  some  interest;  and,  when  the  con- 
gregation assembled,  who  could  remain  unmoved  as  the  apos- 
tle stretched  forth  his  chained  hand '  and  proceeded  to  ex- 
pound his  message !  The  preacher  himself  thought  that  the 
position  which  he  occupied,  as  "  the  prisoner  of  the  Lord," " 
imparted  somewhat  to  the  power  of  his  testimony.  Hence 
we  find  him  saying:  "I  would  ye  should  understand,  breth- 
ren, that  the  things  which  happened  unto  me  have  fallen  out 
rather  unto  the  furtherance  of  the  Gospel,  so  that  my  bonds  in 
Christ  are  manifest   in  all  the  Praetorium,"  and  in  all  other 

'  Philem.  9.         "^  2  Cor.  x.  10.         ^  See  Conybeare  and  Howson,  ii.  428. 

*  Phil.  ii.  25  ;  Philem.  2.  ^  Eph.  vi.  13,  14,  16,  17. 

*  PhiL  iv.  3.  When  speaking  of  a  "true  yoke-fellow,"  he  may  here  refer 
to  the  way  in  which  he  was  himself  unequally  yoked. 

^  See  Acts  xxvi.  i,  29.  *  Eph.  iv.  i. 

"  kv  o?i(fj  Tifj  TTpaircjplu — "  We  never  find  the  word  employed  for  the  Im- 
perial house  at-  Rome  ;  and  we  believe  the  truer  view  to  be  that  it  denotes 
here,  not  the  palace  itself,  but  the  quarters  of  that  part  of  the  Imperial 
guardii  which  was  in  immediate  attendance  on  the  Emperor." — Conybeare 
and  Howson,  ii.  428. 


134  PAULS   EPISTLES. 

places ;  and  many  of  the  brethren  in  the  Lord  waxing  confi- 
dent by  my  bonds  are  much  more  bold  to  speak  the  word 
without  fear." ' 

During  this  imprisonment  at  Rome  Paul  dictated  a  number 
of  his  epistles.  Of  these  the  letter  to  Philemon,  a  Christian 
of  Colosse,  seems  to  have  been  first  written.  The  bearer  of 
this  communication  was  Onesimus,  who  had  at  one  time  been 
a  slave  in  the  service  of  the  individual  to  whom  it  is  ad- 
dressed ;  and  who,  after  robbing  his  master,  had  left  the  coun- 
try. The  thi-ef  made  his  way  to  Rome,  where  he  was  con- 
verted under  the  ministry  of  the  apostle,  and  where  he  had 
since  greatly  recommended  himself  as  a  zealous  and  trustwor- 
thy disciple.  He  was  now  sent  back  to  Colosse  with  this 
Epistle  to  Philemon,  in  which  the  writer  undertakes  to  be  ac- 
countable for  the  property  pilfered,^  and  entreats  his  corre- 
spondent to  give  a  kindly  reception  to  the  penitent  fugitive. 
Onesimus,  when  conveying  the  letter  to  his  old  master,  was 
accompanied  by  Tychicus,  described  as  "  a  beloved  brother 
and  a  faithful  minister  and  fellow-servant  in  the  Lord," "  who 
was  intrusted  with  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians.  Error,  in 
the  form  of  false  philosophy  and  Judaizing  superstition,  had 
been  creeping  into  the  Colossian  Church,^  and  the  apostle  in 
this  letter  exhorts  his  brethren  to  beware  of  its  encroach- 
ments. At  the  same  time  Paul  wrote  the  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians,  and  Tychicus  was  also  the  bearer  of  this  communi- 
cation.' Unlike  most  of  the  other  epistles,  it  has  no  saluta- 
tions at  the  close  ;  it  is  addressed,  not  only  "  to  the  saints 
which  are  at  Ephesus  "  in  particular,  but  also  "  to  the  faith- 
ful in  Christ  Jesus"'  in  general;  and,  as  its  very  superscription 
thus  bears  evidence  that  it  was  originally  intended  to  be  a  cir- 
cular letter,  it  is  probably  "the  epistle  from  Laodicea  "  men- 
tioned in  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians."  The  first  division  of 
it  is  eminently  distinguished  by  the  profound  and  comprehen- 
sive views  of  the  Christian  system  it  exhibits  ;  whilst  the  lat- 
ter portion  is  no  less  remarkable  for  the  variety,  pertinency, 

'  Phil.  i.  12-14.  '  Philem.  18,  19.  '  Col.  iv.  7. 

*  Col.  ii.  8,  16,  18,  23.       '  Eph.  vi.  21,  22.       "  Eph.  i.  i.       '  Col.  iv.  16. 


PAUL  S   EPISTLES. 


135 


and  wisdom  of  its  practical  admonitions.  The  Epistle  to  the 
Philippians  was  likewise  written  about  this  period.  Paul  al- 
ways took  a  deep  interest  in  the  well-being  of  his  earliest  Eu- 
ropean converts,  and  here  he  speaks  in  most  hopeful  terms  of 
their  spiritual  condition.'  They  were  less  disturbed  by  di- 
visions and  heresies  than  perhaps  any  other  of  the  Apostolic 
Churches. 

•  Phil.  i.  3-7. 


CHAPTER  X. 

PAUL'S     SECOND   IMPRISONMENT    AND    MARTYRDOM;   PETER, 

HIS   EPISTLES,   HIS   MARTYRDOM,   AND   THE 

ROMAN   CHURCH. 

The  Book  of  the  Acts  terminates  abruptly ;  and  the  sub- 
sequent history  of  Paul  is  involved  in  much  obscurity.  Some 
contend  that  the  apostle  was  never  released  from  his  first  im- 
prisonment at  Rome,  and  that  he  was  one  of  the  earliest 
Christian  martyrs  who  suffered  under  the  Emperor  Nero. 
But  this  theory  is  encumbered  with  insuperable  difificulties. 
In  his  letters  from  Rome,  Paul  evidently  anticipates  his  liber- 
ation ;'  and  in  some  of  them  he  apparently  speaks  propheti- 
cally. Thus,  he  says  to  the  Philippians,  "  I  am  in  a  strait 
betwixt  two,  having  a  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ, 
which  is  far  better — nevertheless  to  abide  in  the  flesh  is  more 
needful  for  you — and  having  this  confidence,  /  know  that  I 
shall  abide  and  continue  with  you  all  for  your  furtherance  and 
joy  of  faith."  °  The  apostle  had  long  cherished  a  desire  to 
visit  Spain  ;'  and  there  is  evidence  that  he  actually  preached 
the  Gospel  in  that  country  ;  for  Clemens  Romanus,  his  con- 
temporary and  fellow-laborer,  positively  affirms  that  he  travelled 
"  to  the  extremity  of  the  west."  *  Clemens  is  said  to  have 
been  himself  a  native  of  the  great  metropolis;'  and  as  he 
makes  the  statement   just  quoted   in   a   letter  written  from 

»  Phil,  ii  24;  Philem.  22.  "  Phil.  i.  23-25.  '  Rom.  xv.  24,  28. 

*  £tt\  t()  Ttpun  TT/f  iVvaeur — Epist.  to  the  Corinthians  v.  Clement  in  the 
same  place  mentions  that  Paul  was  seven  times  in  bonds.  See  also  Gres- 
well,  "  Dissertations,"  vol.  iv.,  pp.  225-228. 

'  See  Cave's  "  Fathers."  i.  147.     O.xford,  1840. 
(13O) 


PAULS   SECOND   IMPRISONMENT.  I37 

Rome,  it  can  not  be  supposed  that,  under  such  circum- 
stances, he  described  Italy  as  the  boundary  of  the  earth.  The 
Second  Epistle  to  Timothy,  written  immediately  before  Paul's 
death,  contains  several  passages  which  indicate  that  the  author 
had  been  very  recently  at  liberty.  Thus,  he  says,  "  The 
cloak '  (or,  as  some  render  it,  the  case^)  that  I  left  at  Troas, 
with  Carpus,  when  thou  comest,  bring  with  thee,  and  the 
books,  but  especially  the  parchments.""  These  words  suggest 
that  the  apostle  had  lately  visited  Troas,  on  the  coast  of  Asia 
Minor.  Again,  he  remarks,  "  Erastus  abode  at  Corinth,  but 
Trophimus  have  I  left  at  Miletum  sick."  *  Any  ordinary 
reader  would  infer  from  this  that  the  writer  had  just  been  at 
Miletum.^  The  language  of  the  concluding  verses  of  the  Acts 
warrants  the  impression  that  Paul's  confinement  ended  some 
time  before  the  history  was  completed ;  for  had  the  apostle 
been  still  in  bondage,  it  would  not  have  been  said  that,  when 
a  prisoner,  he  dwelt  for  two  whole  years  in  his  own  hired 
house — thereby  implying  that  the  period  of  his  residence,  at 
least  in  that  abode,  had  terminated.  And  if  Paul  was  re- 
leased at  the  expiration  of  these  two  years,  we  can  well  under- 
stand why  the  sacred  historian  did  not  give  an  account  of  his 
liberation.  The  subjects  of  Rome  at  that  time  were  literally 
living  under  a  reign  of  terror  ;  and  if  Paul,  as  Peter  once 
before,"  was  miraculously  delivered,  prudence   required   the 

1  Tov  (peMvTjv.  Some  think  that  he  wished  for  the  cloak  to  protect  him 
against  the  cold  of  winter.     See  2  Tim.  iv.  21. 

^  In  the  "  Life  of  St.  Columba  "  by  Adamnan  (Dublin,  1857),  the  editor, 
Dr.  Reeves,  has  given  an  interesting  account  of  an  ancient  leather  book- 
case in  his  own  possession.  See  "  Life  of  St.  Columba,"  p.  115.  If  Paul  re- 
ferred to  a  case,  it  was  probably  to  one  of  a  larger  description. 

^  2  Tim.  iv.  13.  In  the  anticipation  of  his  death,  he  perhaps  wished  to 
give  the  documents  as  a  legacy  to  some  of  his  friends.  Among  them  may 
have  been  Scripture  autographs. 

^  2  Tim.  iv.  20.  antltnov.  The  translation  "they  left,"  instead  of"/ 
left,"  is  given  up  even  by  Dr.  Davidson,  though  he  rejects  the  idea  of  a 
second  imprisonment.  See  his  "  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament," 
iii.  53. 

^  Miletum,  or  Miletus,  in  Crete,  is  mentioned  by  Homer,  "  Iliad,"  ii.  647. 

®  Acts  xii.  6-9. 


138  PAUL'S   SECOND    IMPRISONMENT. 

concealment  of  his  subsequent  movements.  Or,  the  history 
of  his  release  may  have  been  so  mixed  up  with  the  freaks  of 
the  tyrant  who  then  oppressed  the  Roman  world,  that  its  pub- 
lication would  have  brought  down  the  imperial  vengeance  on 
the  head  of  the  evangelist. 

We  have  seen  that  Paul  arrived  in  Rome  as  a  prisoner  in 
the  beginning  of  A.D.  61  ;  and  if  at  this  time  his  confinement 
continued  only  two  years,  he  was  liberated  in  the  early  part  of 
A.D.  63.  Nero  had  not  yet  commenced  his  memorable  perse- 
cution of  the  Church  ;  for  the  burning  of  the  city  took  place 
in  the  summer  of  A.D.  64;  and,  till  that  date,  the  disciples 
were  not  singled  out  as  the  special  objects  of  his  cruelty.  It 
is  probable  that  Paul,  after  his  release,  accomplished  his  inten- 
tion of  visiting  the  Spanish  Peninsula  ;'  and  that,  on  his  return 
to  Italy,  he  wrote  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.'  The  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  was  now  approaching ;  and  as  the  apostle 
demonstrates  in  this  letter  that  the  law  was  fulfilled  in  Christ, 
he  thus  prepares  the  Jewish  Christians  for  the  extinction  of 
the  Mosaic  ritual.  He  once  more  visited  Jerusalem,  travelling 
to  Corinth,'  Philippi,''  and  Troas,*  where  he  left  for  the  use  of 
Carpus  the  case  with  the  books  and  parchments  which  he 
mentions  in  his  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy.  Passing  on  to 
Colosse,"  he  perhaps  visited  Antioch  in  Pisidia  and  other  cities 
of  Asia  Minor,  the  scenes  of  his  early  ministrations ;  and 
reached  Jerusalem'  byway  of  Antioch  in  Syria.  He  returned 
from  Palestine  to  Rome  by  sea,  leaving  Trophimus  sick  *  at 
Miletum  in  Crete.  The  journey  did  not  occupy  much  time ; 
and,  on  his  return  to  Italy,  h^  was  immediately  incarcerated. 
His  condition  was  now  very  different  from  what  it  had  been 
during  his  former  confinement ;  for  he  was  deserted  by  his 

'  See  Euseb.  ii.  22. 

"  Heb.  xiii.  23,  24.  In  this  epistle  he  apparently  refers  to  his  late  im- 
prisonment, Heb.  X.  34 ;  but  the  reading  of  the  textus  recepfus  is  here 
rejected  by  many  of  our  highest  critical  authorities,  such  as  Griesbach, 
Lachmann,  Tischendorf,  and  Scholz.  Respecting  the  second  imprison- 
ment, see  also  Eusebius,  ii.  c.  22. 

*  2  Tim.  iv.  20.  'Phil.  ii.  24.  '  3  Tim.  iv.  13, 

*  Philem.  22.  '  Heb.  xiii.  23.  '  2  Tim.  iv.  20. 


PAUL'S   MARTYRDOM.  I39 

friends  and  treated  as  a  malefactor.'  When  he  wrote  to 
Timothy  he  had  already  been  brought  before  the  judgment- 
seat,  and  had  narrowly  escaped  martyrdom.  "  At  my  first 
answer,"  says  he,  "  no  man  stood  with  me,  but  all  men  forsook 
me.  I  pray  God  that  it  may  not  be  laid  to  their  charge. 
Notwithstanding  the  Lord  stood  with  me  and  strengthened 
me,  that  by  me  the  preaching  might  be  fully  known,  and 
that  all  the  Gentiles  might  hear ;''  and  I  was  delivered  out  of 
the  mouth  of  the  lion."  ^  The  prospect,  however,  still  con- 
tinued gloomy ;  and  he  had  no  hope  of  ultimate  escape.  In 
the  anticipation  of  his  condemnation,  he  wrote  those  words 
so  full  of  Christian  faith  and  heroism,  "  I  am  now  ready  to  be 
offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have 
fought  a  good  fight — I  have  finished  my  course — I  have  kept 
the  faith.  Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of 
righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give 
me  in  that  day,  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  also 
that  love  his  appearing."  ■* 

Paul  was  martyred  about  A.D.  66.  Tradition  reports  that 
he  was  beheaded  f  and  as  he  was  a  Roman  citizen,  he  could 
not  have  been  legally  condemned  to  any  more  ignominious 
fate.  About  the  third  or  fourth  century,  a  statement  ap- 
peared to  the  effect  that  he  and  Peter  were  put  to  death  at 
Rome  on  the  same  day  f  but  all  the  early  documentary  evi- 
dence we  possess  is  quite  opposed  to  such  a  representation. 
If  Peter  really  finished  his  career  in  the  Western  metropolis 
at  the  same  time  as  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  it  is  strange 
that  Paul  makes  no  reference,  in  any  of  his  writings,  to  the 
presence  of  such  a  fellow-laborer  in  the  capital  of  the  Empire. 
In  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  containing  so  many  salutations 
to  the  brethren  in  the  great  city,  the  name  of  Peter  is  not 
found ;  and  in  none  of  the  letters  written  from  Rome  is  he 

1  2  Tim.  iv.  16,  ii.  9. 

^  This  refers  to  some  powerful  defence  of  Christianity  which  he  had  made 
before  the  Gentile  tribunal  of  Nero. 

3  2  Tim.  iv.  16,  17.  *  2  Tim.  iv.  6-8.  '  Euseb.  "Hist."ii.  25. 

'  Euseb  ii.  25.  See  the  Note  of  Valesius  on  the  words  Kara  rbv  ahrbv 
Kaipov.     See  also  Davidson's  "  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament."  iii.  361. 


I40  PETER. 

ever  mentioned.  In  the  last  of  his  Epistles — the  Second  to 
Timothy — the  writer  says,  "  only  Luke  is  with  me  "  * — and 
had  Peter  then  been  in  the  place,  Paul  would  not  have  thus 
ignored  the  existence  of  the  apostle  of  the  circumcision. 

Though  Rome  has  been  so  long  known  in  ecclesiastical 
annals  as  "  the  see  of  Peter,"  it  is  remarkable  that  the  New 
Testament  nowhere  reports  the  presence  of  the  apostle  of 
the  circumcision  in  the  Western  capital.  The  legend  that  he 
was  crucified  there  with  his  head  downwards  "^  at  his  own  re- 
quest— as  a  mode  of  suffering  more  painful  and  ignominious 
than  the  doom  of  his  Master  ^ — is  evidently  the  invention  of 
an  age  when  the  pure  light  of  evangelical  religion  was  greatly 
obscured ;  for  the  apostle  was  too  well  acquainted  with  the 
truth  to  believe  that  he  was  at  liberty  to  inflict  on  himself 
any  unnecessary  suffering.  The  story  that  he  was  the  first 
bisliop  of  Rome  is  a  stupid  fable.  We  know,  from  the  Epis- 
tle of  Clemens  Romanus,  that  episcopal  government  was  not 
established  in  the  great  city  until  long  afterward.  The  allega- 
tion, that  he  occupied  the  see  for  five  and  twenty  years,  is  a 
monstrous  fabrication  which  the  plainest  historical  testimony 
totally  discredits.  We  have  -every  reason  to  believe  that  he 
suffered  martyrdom  ; '  but  the  place  of  his  death  must  per- 
haps forever  remain  a  mystery.'  According  to  a  tradition  of 
high  antiquity,  it  occurred  at  Rome  ;  but  the  statements  re- 
lating to  it  are  so  unsatisfactory,  so  mixed  up  with  incredible 
details,  and  presented  under  such  suspicious  circumstances, 

'2  Tim  iv.  II. 

'  Reported  by  Eusebius  iii.  I, 

^  The  idea,  that  crucifixion  with  the  head  downwards  aggravates  the 
suffering,  is  unfounded.  It  vastly  diminishes  it  by  speedily  causing  death. 
But  it  was  once  considered  a  more  dreadful  form  of  torture,  and  hence  we 
find  persons  thus  put  to  death.     .See  Euseb.  viii.  8. 

*  Our  Lord  apparently  refers  to  the  violent  death  of  the  apostle  in  John 
xxi.  1 8,  19. 

'  Caius,  a  Roman  presbyter  who  flourished  in  the  early  part  of  the  third 
centur>',  refers  to  the  Vatican  and  the  Ostian  Way  as  the  places  where 
Peter  and  Paul  suffered  (Routh's  "  Reliquia^,"  ii.  p.  127) ;  but  this  writer  lived 
nearly  a  century  and  a  half  after  the  demise  of  the  apostles,  and  almost 
every  tale  told  respecting  them  then  obtained  ready  credence. 


PETER.  141 

that,  in  relation  to  them,  we  can   not  safely  adopt  any  very 
definite  conclusion. 

The  Second  Epistle  of  Peter  was  written  soon  after  the  first, 
and  was  addressed  to  the  same  Churches.'  The  author  now 
contemplated  the  near  approach  of  death,  so  that  the  advices 
he  here  gives  may  be  regarded  as  his  dying  instructions.  "  I 
think  it  meet,"  says  he,  "as  long  as  I  am  in  this  tabernacle,^ 
to  stir  you  up  by  putting  you  in  remembrance — knowing  that 
shortly  I  must  put  off  this  my  tabernacle,  even  as  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  hath  showed  me."  '  It  deserves  notice  that  in 
this  second  epistle,  Peter  bears  emphatic  testimony  to  the 
character  and  inspiration  of  Paul.  The  Judaizing  party  were 
in  the  habit  of  pleading  that  they  were  supported  by  the  au- 
thority of  the  apostle  of  the  circumcision  ;  and  as  many  of 
these  zealots  were  to  be  found  in  the  Churches  of  Asia  Minor,  * 
such  a  recognition  of  the  claims  of  the  Apostle  of  the  Gen- 
tiles was  calculated  to  exert  a  most  salutary  influence.  "  The 
strangers  scattered  throughout  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia, 
Asia,  and  Bithynia,"  *  were  thus  given  to  understand  that  all 
the  true  heralds  of  the  Gospel  had  but  "  one  faith";  and  that 
any  attempt  to  create  divisions  in  the  Church,  by  representing 
the  doctrine  of  one  inspired  teacher  as  opposed  to  the  doc- 
trine of  another,  was  most  unwarrantable.  The  reference  to 
Paul,  to  be  found  in  the  Second  Epistle  of  Peter,  is  favorable 
to  the  supposition  that  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  was  now 
dead ;  as,  had  he  been  still  living  to  correct  such  misinterpre- 
tations, it  would  scarcely  have  been  said  that  in  all  his  epistles 
were  things ''hard  to  be  understood  "  which  "  the  unlearned 
and  unstable"  wrested  "unto  their  own  destruction."*  It 
would  seem,  too,  that  Peter  here  alludes  particularly  to  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews — a  letter,  as  we  have  seen,  addressed 
to  Jewish  Christians,  and  written  after  Paul's  liberation  from 
his  first  Roman  imprisonment.    This  letter  contains  passages  ^ 

'  2  Pet.  i.  12,  iii.  i. 

*  These  words  suggest,  that  the  preceding  letter  was  written  not  long  be- 
fore, 

'  2  Pet.  i.  13,  14.  *  Gal.  iv.  17,  21,  vi.  12  ;  Col.  ii.  16-18. 

'  I  Pet.  i.  I.  °  2  Pet.  iii.  16.  'As  Heb.  vi.  4-6,  vii.  1-3,  ix.  17. 


142  PETER  AND   PAUL. 

which  have  often  proved  perplexing  to  interpreters ;  but,  not- 
withstanding, it  bears  the  impress  of  a  divine  original ;  and 
Peter,  who  maintains  that  all  the  writings  of  Paul  were  dic- 
tated by  unerring  wisdom,  places  them  upon  a  level  with  "  the 
other  Scriptures,  "  '  either  of  the  evangelists  or  of  the  Old 
Testament. 

In  the  New  Testament  it  is  impossible  to  find  a  trace  of 
either  the  primacy  of  Peter,  or  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope  ; 
but  the  facts  already  stated  throw  some  light  on  the  history 
of  that  great  spiritual  despotism  whose  seat  of  government 
has  been  so  long  established  in  the  city  of  the  Csesars.  At  a 
very  early  period  various  circumstances  contributed  to  give 
prominence  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  epistle  addressed 
to  it  contains  a  more  complete  exhibition  of  Christian  doc- 
trine than  any  other  of  the  apostolical  letters  ;  and,  in  that 
remarkable  communication,  Paul  expresses  an  earnest  desire 
to  visit  a  community  already  celebrated  all  over  the  world. 
Five  or  six  of  his  letters,  forming  part  of  the  inspired  canon, 
were  dictated  in  the  capital  of  the  Empire.  There  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  the  Book  of  the  Acts  was  written  at 
Rome,  and  that  the  great  city  was  also  the  birthplace  of  the 
Gospels  of  Mark  and  Luke.  Thus,  a  large  portion  of  the  New 
Testament  issued  from  the  seat  of  Empire.  Rome  boasts  that 
it  was  for  some  time  the  residence  of  apostles,  and  Paul  was 
there  for  at  least  two  years  as  a  prisoner.  Some  of  the  most 
illustrious  of  the  early  converts  were  members  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  ;  for  in  the  days  of  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  there 
were  disciples  in  "  Caesar's  household."  ^  And  when  Nero  sig- 
nalized himself  as  the  first  Imperial  persecutor  of  the  Chris- 
tians, the  Church  of  Rome  suffered  terribly  from  his  insane 
and  savage  cruelty.  Even  the  historian  Tacitus  acknowledges 
that  the  tortures  to  which  its  adherents  were  exposed  excited 
the  commiseration  of  the  heathen  multitude.  Paul  and  others 
were  cut  off  in  his  reign  ;  and  the  soil  of  Rome  absorbed  the 
blood  of  many  martyrs.  It  was  not  strange,  therefore,  that 
the  Roman  Church  was  soon  regarded  with  peculiar  respect 
by  all  the  disciples  throughout  the  Empire.  As  time  passed 
'  2  Pet.  iii.  1 6.  '^  Phil.  iv.  22. 


THE   CHURCH   OF   ROME.  I43 

on,  it  increased  rapidly  in  numbers  and  in  affluence ;  and  cir- 
cumstances, which  properly  possessed  nothing  more  than  an 
historic  interest,  began  to  be  urged  as  arguments  in  favor  of 
its  claims  to  pre-eminence.  At  first  these  claims  assumed  no 
very  definite  form  ;  and,  at  the  termination  of  a  century  after 
the  days  of  Paul,  they  amounted  simply  to  the  recognition  of 
something  like  an  honorary  precedence.  At  that  period  it 
was  deemed  equally  imprudent  and  ungracious  to  quarrel  with 
its  pretensions,  especially  as  the  community  by  which  they 
were  advanced  was  distributing  its  bounty  all  around,  and  was 
itself  nobly  sustaining  the  brunt  of  almost  every  persecution. 
In  the  course  of  time,  the  Church  of  Rome  proceeded  to  chal- 
lenge a  substantial  supremacy  ;  and  then  the  facts  of  its  early 
history  were  misstated  and  exaggerated  in  accommodation  to 
the  demands  of  its  growing  ambition.  It  was  said  at  first  that 
"  its  faith  was  spoken  of  throughout  the  whole  world  ";  it 
was  at  length  contended  that  its  creed  should  be  universally 
adopted.  It  was  admitted  at  an  early  period  that,  as  it  had 
enjoyed  the  ministrations  of  Paul,  it  should  be  considered  an 
apostolic  church ;  it  was  soon  reported  that  Peter  also  was  one 
of  its  teachers  ;  and  it  was  at  length  asserted  that,  as  an  apos- 
tle was  entitled  to  deference  from  ordinary  pastors,  a  church 
instructed  by  two  of  the  most  eminent  apostles  had  a  claim  to 
the  obedience  of  other  churches.  In  process  of  time  it  was 
discovered  that  Paul  was  rather  an  inconvenient  companion 
for  the  apostle  of  the  circumcision  ;  and  Peter  alone  then 
began  to  be  spoken  of  as  the  founder  and  first  bishop  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  Strange  to  say,  a  system  founded  on  a  fic- 
tion has  since  sustained  the  shocks  of  many  centuries.  One 
of  the  greatest  marvels  of  this  ''  mystery  of  iniquity  "  is  its  te- 
nacity of  life  ;  and  did  not  the  sure  word  of  prophecy  announce 
that  the  time  should  come  when  it  would  be  able  to  boast  of 
its  antiquity,  and  did  we  not  know  that  paganism  can  plead  a 
more  remote  origin,  we  might  be  perplexed  by  its  longevity. 
But  "  the  vision  is  yet  for  an  appointed  time — at  the  end  it 
shall  speak  and  not  lie.  Though  it  tarry,  wait  for  it,  because 
?t  will  surely  come,  it  will  not  tarry."  ' 
'  Hab.  ii.  3. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   PERSECUTIONS   OF  THE    APOSTOLIC    CHURCH,   AND    ITS 

CONDITION   AT   THE   TERMINATION   OF  THE 

FIRST   CENTURY. 

Jesus  Christ  was  a  Jew,  and  it  might  have  been  expected 
that  the  advent  of  the  most  illustrious  of  His  race,  in  the 
character  of  the  Prophet  announced  by  Moses,  would  be 
hailed  with  enthusiasm  by  His  countrymen.  But  the  result 
was  far  otherwise.  "  He  came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own 
received  him  not."*  The  Jews  cried,  "Away  with  him, 
away  with  him,  crucify  him  ";  "^  and  He  suffered  the  fate  of 
the  vilest  criminal.  The  enmity  of  the  posterity  of  Abraham 
to  our  Lord  did  not  terminate  with  His  death ;  they  long 
maintained  the  bad  pre-eminence  of  being  the  most  inveterate 
of  the  persecutors  of  His  early  followers.  When  the  awful 
portents  of  the  Passion,  and  the  marvels  of  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost were  still  fresh  in  public  recollection,  their  chief  priests 
and  elders  threw  the  apostles  into  prison ;  ^  and  soon  after- 
ward the  pious  and  intrepid  Stephen  fell  a  victim  to  their 
malignity.  Their  infatuation  was  extreme ;  and  yet  it  was 
not  unaccountable.  They  looked,  not  for  a  crucified,  but  for 
a  conquering  Messiah.  They  imagined  that  the  Saviour,  after 
breaking  their  Roman  yoke,  would  make  Jerusalem  the  capi- 
tal of  a  prosperous  and  powerful  empire  ;  and  that  all  the 
ends  of  the  earth  would  celebrate  the  glory  of  the  chosen  peo- 
ple. Their  vexation,  therefore,  was  intense  when  they  dis- 
covered that  so  many  of  the  seed  of  Jacob  acknowledged  the 
son  of  a  carpenter  as  the  Christ,  and  made  light  of  the  dis- 
tinction between  Jew  and   Gentile.     In  their  case  the  natural 

1  John  i,  1 1.  ^  John  xix,  1 5.  «  Acts  iv.  3,  v.  18. 

(144) 


JEWISH    PERSECUTION.  I45 

aversion  of  the  heart  to  a  pure  and  spiritual  reHgion  was  in- 
flamed by  national  pride  combined  with  mortified  bigotry  ; 
and  the  fiendish  spirit  which  they  so  frequently  exhibited  in 
their  attempts  to  exterminate  the  infant  Church  thus  admit 
of  the  most  satisfactory  explanation. 

Many  instances  of  their  antipathy  to  the  new  sect  have  al- 
ready been  noticed.  In  almost  every  town  where  the  mission- 
aries of  the  cross  appeared,  the  Jews  "  opposed  themselves  and 
blasphemed  ";  and  magistrates  speedily  discovered  that  in  no 
way  could  they  more  easily  gain  the  favor  of  the  populace 
than  by  inflicting  sufferings  on  the  Christians.  Hence,  as  we 
have  seen,  at  the  time  of  Paul's  second  visit  to  Jerusalem  after 
his  conversion,  Herod,  the  grandson  of  Herod  the  Great, 
"killed  James,  the  brother  of  John,  with  the  sword  ;  and,  be- 
cause he  saw  \\.  pleased  the  jfeivs,  he  proceeded  further  to  take 
Peter  also."  '  The  apostle  of  the  circumcision  was  delivered 
by  a  miracle  from  his  grasp  ;  but  it  is  probable  that  other  in- 
dividuals of  less  note  felt  the  efTects  of  his  severity.  Even  in 
countries  far  remote  from  their  native  land,  the  posterity  of 
Abraham  were  the  most  bitter  opponents  of  Christianity.^  As 
there  was  much  intercourse  between  Palestine  and  Italy,  the 
Gospel  soon  found  its  way  to  the  seat  of  government,  and  it 
would  appear  that  some  civic  disturbance  created  in  the  great 
metropolis  by  the  adherents  of  the  synagogue,  and  intended 
to  annoy  and  intimidate  the  new  sect,  prompted  the  Emperor 
Claudius,  about  A.D.  53,  to  interfere  in  the  manner  described 
by  Luke,  and  to  command  "all  Jews  to  depart  from  Rome."  ' 
But  the  hostility  of  the  Israelites  was  most  formidable  in  their 

•  Acts  xii.  2,  3.  °  See  Acts  xvii.  5,  xviii.  12. 

'  Acts  xviii.  2.  Suetonius  in  Claud,  (c.  25),  says,  "  Judaeos  impulsore 
Chresto  assidue  tumultuantes  Roma  expulit."  The  words  Christus  and 
Chrestus  were  often  confounded,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  historian  here 
refers  to  some  riotous  proceedings  among  the  Jews  in  Rome  arising  out  of 
discussions  relative  to  Christianity.  *  These  disturbances  took  place  about 
A.D.  53.  Even  in  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  the  Christians  were 
sometimes  called  Chrestiani.  Hence,  TertuUian  says,  "  Sed  et  cum  per- 
peram  Chrestianus  pronunciatur  a  vobis,  nam  nee  nominis  certa  est  notitia 
penes  vos,  de  suavitate  vel  benignitate  compositum  est."  "  Apol."  c.  iii. 
See  also  "  Ad  Nationes,"  lib.  i.  c.  3. 
10 


146  JEWISH   TERSECUTION. 

own  country,  and  for  this,  as  well  as  other  reasons,  "  the  breth- 
ren which  dwelt  in  Judea  "  specially  required  the  sympathy  of 
their  fellow-believers  throughout  the  Empire.  When  Paul  ap- 
peared in  the  temple  at  the  feast  of  Pentecost  in  A.D.  58,  the 
Jews,  as  already  related,  made  an  attempt  on  his  life ;  and 
when  the  apostle  was  rescued  by  the  Roman  soldiers,  a  con- 
spiracy was  formed  for  his  assassination.  Four  years  after- 
ward, or  in  A.D.  62,'  another  apostle,  James,  surnamed  the 
Just,  who  resided  chiefly  in  Jerusalem,  finished  his  career  by 
martyrdom.  Having,  on  a  great  public  occasion,  proclaimed 
Jesus  to  be  the  true  Messiah,  his  fellow-citizens  were  so  indig- 
nant that  they  threw  him  from  a  pinnacle  of  the  temple.  As 
he  was  still  alive  when  he  reached  the  ground,  he  was  forth- 
with assailed  with  a  shower  of  stones,  and  beaten  to  pieces 
with  the  club  of  a  fuller." 

As  the  Christians  were  at  first  confounded  with  the  Jews, 
the  administrators  of  the  Roman  law,  for  upwards  of  thirty 
years  after  our  Lord's  death,  conceded  to  them  the  religious 
toleration  enjoyed  by  the  seed  of  Abraham.  But,  from  the  ^ 
beginning,  "  the  sect  of  the  Nazarenes  "  enjoyed  very  little  of 
the  favor  of  the  heathen  multitude.  Paganism  had  set  its 
mark  upon  all  the  relations  of  life,  and  had  erected  an  idol 
wherever  the  eye  could  turn.  It  had  a  god  of  War.  and  a  god 
of  Peace ;  a  god  of  the  Sea  and  a  god  of  the  Wind  ;  a  god  of 
the  River,  and  a  god  of  the  Fountain  ;  a  god  of  the  Field,  and 
a  god  of  the  Barn  Floor;  a  god  of  the  Hearth,  and  a  god  of 
the  Threshold  ;  a  god  of  the  Door,  and  a  god  of  the  Hinges.' 
When  we  consider  its  power  and  prevalence  in  the  apostolic 
age,  we  need  not  wonder  at  the  declaration  of  Paul,  "  All  that 
will   live   godly    in    Christ  Jesus    shall    suffer   persecution."  * 

'  See  Gresvvell's  "  Dissertations,"  iv.  p.  233.  ^  Eusebius,  ii.  23. 

3  "  Certi  enim  esse  debemus,  si  quos  latet  per  ignorantiam  literatura^  secu- 
laris,  etiam  ostiorum  deos  apud  Romanos,  Cardeam  a  cardinibus  appella- 
tam,  et  Forculum  a  foribus,  et  Limentinum  a  limine,  et  ipsum  Janum  a 
janua."  Tertuliian,  "  De  Idololatria,"  c.  15.  See  also  the  same  writer  "  Ad 
Nationes,"  ii.  c.  10,  15;  and  "  Dc  Corona,"  13;  and  Augustine's  "City  of 
God,"  iv.  8. 

*2  Tim.  iii.  12.  Cyprian  touches  on  the  same  sul)ject  in  his  Treatise  on 
the  "  Vanity  of  Idols,"  c.  2. 


PERSECUTION   BY   NERO.  I47 

Whether  the  believer  entered  any  social  circle,  or  any  place  of 
public  concourse,  he  was  constrained  in  some  way  to  protest 
against  dominant  errors  ;  and  almost  exactly  in  proportion  to 
his  consistency  and  conscientiousness,  he  was  sure  to  incur  the 
dislike  of  the  more  zealous  votaries  of  idolatry.  Hence  it  was 
that  the  members  of  the  Church  were  so  soon  regarded  by  the 
pagans  as  a  morose  generation  instinct  with  hatred  to  the 
human  race.  In  A.D.  64,  when  Nero,  in  a  fit  of  recklessness, 
set  fire  to  his  capital,  he  soon  discovered  that  he  had,  to  a  dan- 
gerous extent,  provoked  the  wrath  of  the  Roman  citizens,  and 
he  attempted,  in  consequence,  to  divert  the  torrent  of  public  in- 
dignation from  himself  by  imputing  the  mischief  to  the  Chris- 
tians. They  were  already  odious"  as  the  propagators  of  what 
was  considered  *'  a  pernicious  superstition,"  and  the  tyrant 
reckoned  that  the  mob  of  the  metropolis  were  prepared  to  be- 
lieve any  report  to  the  discredit  of  these  sectaries.  But  even 
the  pagan  historian  who  records  the  commencement  of  this 
first  imperial  persecution,  and  who  was  deeply  prejudiced 
against  the  disciples  of  our  Lord,  bears  testimony  to  the  false- 
hood of  the  accusation.  Nero,  says  Tacitus,  "  found  wretches 
who  were  induced  to  confess  what  they  were,  and,  on  their 
evidence,  a  great  multitude  of  Christians  were  convicted,  not, 
indeed,  on  clear  proof  of  their  having  set  the  city  oil  fire,  but 
rather  on  account  of  their  hatred  of  the  human  race.'  They 
were  put  to  death  amidst  insults  and  derision.  Some  were 
covered  with  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  and  left  to  be  torn  to 
pieces  by  dogs ;  others  were  nailed  to  the  cross  ;  and  some, 

'The  Christians  were  famiHar  with  the  idea  of  the  conflagration  of  the 
world,  and  there  is  much  plausibiHty  in  the  conjecture  that,  as  they  gazed 
on  the  burning  city,  they  gave  utterance  to  expressions  which  were  misun- 
derstood, and  which  awakened  suspicion.  "  Some,"  says  Dean  Milman, 
"  in  the  first  instance,  apprehended  and  examined,  may  have  made  ac- 
knowledgments before  a  passionate  and  astonished  tribunal,  which  would 
lead  to  the  conclusion  that,  in  the  hour  of  general  destruction,  they  had 
some  trust,  some  security,  denied  to  the  rest  of  mankind  ;  and  this  exemp- 
tion from  common  misery,  if  it  would  not  mark  them  out,  in  some  dark  man- 
ner, as  the  authors  of  the  conflagration,  at  all  events  would  convict  them 
of  that  hatred  of  the  human  race  so  often  advanced  against  tlie  Jews,"  — 
Milman  s  History  of  Christianity,  ii.  37,  38. 


148  FALL   OF  JERUSALEM. 

covered  over  with  inflammable  matter,  were  lighted  up,  when 
the  day  declined,  to  serve  as  torches  during  the  night.  The 
Emperor  lent  his  own  gardens  for  the  exhibition.  He  added 
the  sports  of  the  circus,  and  assisted  in  person,  sometimes 
driving  a  curicle,  and  occasionally  mixing  with  the  rabble  in 
his  coachman's  dress.  At  length  these  proceedings  excited  a 
feeling  of  compassion,  as  it  was  evident  that  the  Christians 
were  destroyed,  not  for  the  public  good,  but  as  a  sacrifice  to 
the  cruelty  of  a  single  individual."  ' 

Some  writers  have  maintained  that  the  persecution  under 
Nero  was  confined  to  Rome ;  but  various  testimonies  concur 
to  prove  that  it  extended  to  the  provinces.  Paul  contem- 
plates its  spread  throughout  the  Empire  when  he  tells  the 
.Hebrews  that  they  had  '■'■  not  yet  resisted  imto  blood,  strWmg 
against  sin,"  ^  and  when  he  exhorts  them  not  to  forsake  the 
assembling  of  themselves  together  as  they  "  see  the  day  ap- 
proaching!'' '  Peter,  also,  as  has  been  stated  in  a  preceding 
chapter,  refers  to  the  same  circumstance  in  his  letter  to  the 
brethren  "  scattered  throughout  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia, 
Asia,  and  Bithynia,"  when  he  announces  "  the  fiery  trial " 
which  was  "to  try  "  them,"  and  when  he  tells  them  of  "judg- 
ment "  beginning  "  at  the  house  of  God."  ^  If  Nero  enacted 
that  the  profession  of  Christianity  was  a  capital  offence,  his 
law  was  in  force  throughout  the  Roman  world ;  and  an  early 
ecclesiastical  writer  positively  afifirms  that  he  was  the  author 
of  such  sanguinary  legislation."  The  horror  with  which  his 
name  was  so  long  regarded  by  members  of  the  Church  in  all 
parts  of  the  Empire '  strongly  corroborates  the  statement  that 
the  attack  on  the  disciples  in  the  capital  was  only  the  signal 
for  the  commencement  of  a  general  persecution. 

Nero  died  A.D.  68,  and  the  war  which  involved  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  and  of  upwards  of  a  million  of  the  Jews,  was 
already  in  progress.  The  holy  city  fell  A.D.  70 ;  and  the  Mo- 
saic economy,  which  had  been  virtually  abolished  by  the  death 

'  Tacitus,  "  Annal."  xv.  44.  '^  Heb  xii.  4.  '  Heb.  x.  25. 

*  I  Pet.  iv.  12.         'I  Pet.  iv.  17.  •Tcrtullian.  "  Ad  Nationes,"  i.  7. 

'See  "De  Mortibus  Persecutorum,"  c.  2,  and  Sulpitius  Severus,  lib.  ii., 
p.  139;  Edit.  Leyden,  1635. 


PERSECUTION   BY   DOMITIAN.  I49 

of  Christ,  now  reached  its  practical  termination.  At  the  same 
period  the  prophecy  of  Daniel  was  literally  fulfilled  ;  for  "  the 
sacrifice  and  the  oblation  "  were  made  to  cease,'  as  the  demoli- 
tion of  the  temple  and  the  dispersion  of  the  priests  put  an  end 
to  the  celebration  of  the  Levitical  worship.  The  overthrow  of 
the  metropolis  of  Palestine  contributed  in  various  ways  to  the 
advancement  of  the  Christian  cause.  Judaism,  no  longer  able 
to  provide  for  the  maintenance  of  its  ritual,  was  exhibited  to 
the  world  as  a  defunct  system ;  its  institutions,  more  narrowly 
examined  by  the  spiritual  eye,  were  discovered  to  be  but  types 
of  the  blessings  of  a  more  glorious  dispensation ;  and  many 
believers,  who  had  hitherto  adhered  to  the  ceremonial  law, 
discontinued  its  observances.  Christ,  forty  years  before,  had 
predicted  the  siege  and  desolation  of  Jerusalem;''  and  the  re- 
markable verification  of  a  prophecy,  delivered  at  a  time  when 
the  catastrophe  was  exceedingly  improbable,  induced  not  a 
few  to  think  more  favorably  of  the  credentials  of  the  Gospel. 
In  another  point  of  view  the  ruin  of  the  ancient  capital  of  Judea 
proved  advantageous  to  the  Church.  In  the  subversion  of 
their  chief  city  the  power  of  the  Jews  sustained  a  shock  from 
which  it  has  never  since  recovered ;  and  the  disciples  were 
partially  delivered  from  the  attacks  of  their  most  restless  and 
implacable  persecutors. 

Much  obscurity  rests  upon  the  history  of  the  period  which 
immediately  follows  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  Though 
Philip  and  John,"  and  perhaps  one  or  two  more  of  the  apostles, 
still  survived,  we  know  almost  nothing  of  their  proceedings. 
After  the  death  of  Nero  the  Church  enjoyed  a  season  of  re- 
pose, but  when  Domitian,  in  A.D.  81,  succeeded  to  the  govern- 
ment, the  work  of  persecution  recommenced.  The  new  sov- 
ereign, who  was  of  a  gloomy  and  suspicious  temper,  encouraged 
a  system  of  espionage ;  and  as  he  imagined  that  the  Christians 
fostered  dangerous  political  designs,  he  treated  them  with  the 
greater  harshness.     The  Jewish  calumny,  that  they  aimed  at 

'  Dan.  ix.  27. 

"^  Matt.  xxiv.  2,  15,  16,  34;  Mark  xii.  2,  14,  30;  Luke  xxi,  6,  20,  21,  24,  32. 

*See  Euseb.  iii.  31. 


150  PERSECUTION   BY   DOMITIAN. 

temporal  dominion,  and  that  they  sought  to  set  up  "  another 
king,  one  Jesus," '  had  obviously  produced  an  impression  on 
his  mind  ;  and  he  accordingly  sought  out  the  nearest  kinsmen 
of  the  Messiah,  that  he  might  remove  these  heirs  of  the  rival 
dynasty.  But  when  the  two  grandchildren  of  Jude,°  called 
the  brother  of  our  Lord,'  were  conducted  to  Rome,  and 
brought  to  his  tribunal,  he  discovered  the  groundlessness  of 
his  apprehensions.  The  individuals  who  had  inspired  the 
Emperor  with  such  anxiety,  were  the  joint  proprietors  of  a 
small  farm  in  Palestine,  which  they  cultivated  with  their  own 
hands ;  and  the  jealous  monarch  at  once  saw  that  when  his 
fears  had  been  excited  by  reports  of  the  treasonable  designs  of 
such  simple  and  illiterate  husbandmen,  he  had  been  miserably 
befooled.  After  a  single  interview,  these  poor  peasants  met 
with  no  farther  molestation  from  Domitian. 

Had  all  the  disciples  been  in  such  circumstances  as  the 
grandchildren  of  Jude,  the  Gospel  might  have  been  identified 
with  poverty  and  ignorance  ;  and  it  would  have  been  said  that 
it  was  fitted  to  make  way  only  among  the  dregs  of  the  popu- 
lation. But  it  was  never  fairly  open  to  this  objection.  Fcom 
the  very  first  it  reckoned  among  its  adherents  at  least  a  sprin- 
kling of  the  wealthy,  the  influential,  and  the  educated.  Joseph 
of  Arimathea,  one  of  the  primitive  followers  of  our  Lord,  was 
"  a  rich  man  "  and  an  "  honorable  counsellor";*  Paul  himself, 
as  a  scholar,  stood  high  among  his  countrymen,  for  he  had 
been  brought  up  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel ;  and  Sergius  Paulus, 
one  of  the  first-fruits  of  the  mission  to  the  Gentiles,  was  a 
Roman  Proconsul."  In  the  reign  of  Nero  the  Church  could 
boast  of  some  illustrious  converts  ;  and  the  saints  of  "  Caesar's 
household  "  are  found  addressing  their  Christian  salutations 
to  their  brethren  at  Philippi."  In  the  reign  of  Domitian  the 
Gospel  still  continued  to  have  friends  among  the  Roman  no- 
bility. Flavins  Clemens,  a  person  of  consular  dignity,  and  the 
cousin  of  the  Emperor,  was  put  to  death  for  his  attachment 

'Actsxvii.  7.  ^  Euseb.  iii.  20. 

*Matt.  xiii.  55.     See  Greswell's  "Dissertations,"  ii.  114,  121,  122. 

*  Matt,  xxvii.  57  ;  Mark  xv.  43.  *  Acts  xiii.  7.  "  Phil.  iv.  22. 


THE   APOSTLE   JOHN.  151 

to  the  cause  of  Christ ; '  and  his  near  relative,  Flavia  Domi- 
tilla,  for  the  same  reason,  was  banished  with  many  others  to 
Pontia,''  a  small  island  off  the  coast  of  Italy  used  for  the  con- 
finement of  State  prisoners. 

Domitian  governed  the  Empire  fifteen  years,  but  his  perse- 
cution of  the  Christians  was  limited  to  the  latter  part  of  his 
reign.  About  this  time  the  Apostle  John,  "  for  the  word  of  God 
and  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ,"  ^  was  sent  as  an  exile 
into  Patmos,  a  small  rocky  island  in  the  JEgxan  Sea  not  far 
from  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  The  tradition  that  he  had  pre- 
viously issued  unhurt  from  a  caldron  of  boiling  oil  into  which 
he  had  been  plunged  in  Rome  by  order  of  the  Emperor — a 
story  for  which  a  writer  who  flourished  about  a  century  after- 
ward is  the  earliest  voucher* — has  been  challenged  as  apocry- 
phal.* We  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  length  of  time 
during  which  he  remained  in  banishment ;  °  and  all  we  know 
of  this  portion  of  his  life  is,  that  he  had  now  those  sublime 
and  mysterious  visions  to  be  found  in  the  Apocalypse.     After 

1  Dio  Cassius,  Ixvii.  14.  *  Euseb.  iii.  18.  '  Rev.  i.  9. 

*  Tertullian,  "  De  Prasscrip.  Haeret.,"  c.  36. 
^  See  Mosheim,  Cent,  i.,  part  i.,  ch.  5. 

*  According  to  Boronius  ("  Annal,"  ad.  an.  92,  98)  John  was  six  years  in 
Patmos,  or  from  A.D.  92  to  A.D.  98.  Other  writers  think  that  he  was  set  at 
liberty  some  time  before  the  death  of  Domitian,  or  about  A.D.  95.  Accord- 
ing to  this  reckoning,  had  he  been  six  years  in  exile,  he  was  banished  A.D. 
89.  This  conclusion  derives  some  countenance  from  the  "  Chronicon  "  of 
Eusebius,  which  represents  the  tyrant  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  years  of  his 
reign,  or  about  a.d.  89,  as  proscribing  and  putting  to  death  very  many  of 
his  subjects.  If  the  visions  of  the  Apocalypse  were  vouchsafed  to  John  in 
A.D.  89,  the  interval  between  their  revelation  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Pope  as  a  temporal  prince  is  found  to  be  755 — 89,  or  exactly  666  years. 
See  Rev.  xiii.  18.  There  is  another  very  curious  coincidence  in  this  case  ; 
for  the  interval  between  the  fall  of  the  Western  Empire  and  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  as  a  temporal  prince  is  755 — 476  =  279  com- 
plete, or  280  current  years,  that  is,  40  prophetic  weeks.  But  it  so  happens 
that  the  period  of  human  gestation  is  40  weeks,  and  this  would  lead  to  the 
inference  that  the  Man  of  Sin  was  conceived  as  soon  as  the  Western  Em- 
pire fell.  See  2  Thess.  ii.  7,  8.  I  am  not  aware  that  these  remarkable 
coincidences  have  yet  been  noticed,  and  I  therefore  submit  them  to  the 
consideration  of  the  students  of  prophecy. 


152  THE   APOSTLE   JOHN. 

the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  as  well  as  after  he  was  permitted  to 
leave  Patmos,  he  appears  to  have  resided  chiefly  in  the  metrop- 
olis of  the  Proconsular  Asia ;  and  hence  some  ancient  writers, 
who  flourished  when  the  episcopal  system  was  established, 
have  designated  him  "  Bishop  of  Ephesus."  '  But  the  apostle, 
when  advanced  in  life,  chose  to  be  known  simply  by  the  title 
of  "  the  elder  ";  ^  and  though  by  far  the  most  influential  minis- 
ter of  the  district  where  he  sojourned,  he  admitted  his  brethren 
to  a  share  in  the  government  of  the  Christian  community. 
Like  Peter  and  Paul  before  him,  he  acknowledged  the  other 
ciders  as  his  "  fellow-presbyters,'' '  and,  as  became  his  age  and 
apostolic  character,  he  doubtless  exhorted  them  to  take  heed 
unto  themselves  and  to  all  the  flock  over  the  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  had  made  them  overseers.' 

John  was  the  last  survivor  of  the  apostles.  He  reached  the 
advanced  age  of  one  hundred,  and  died  about  the  close  of  the 
first  century.  He  was  a  "  Son  of  Thunder" '  who  long  main- 
tained the  reputation  of  a  powerful  and  impressive  preacher ; 
but  when  his  strength  began  to  give  way  beneath  the  pressure 
of  increasing  infirmities,  he  ceased  to  deliver  lengthened  dis- 
courses. When  he  addressed  the  congregation  in  extreme  old 
age,  he  is  reported  to  have  simply  repeated  the  exhortation, 
"  Children,  love  one  another";  and  when  asked  why  he  always 
confined  himself  to  the  same  brief  admonition,  he  replied  that 
"  no  more  was  necessary."  "  Such  a  narrative  is  certainly  quite 
in  harmony  with  the  character  of  the  beloved  disciple,  for  he 
knew  that  love  is  the  "  bond  of  pcrfectncss  "  and  the  "  fulfil- 
ling of  the  law." 

It  has  been  thought  that,  toward  the  close  of  the  first  cent- 
ury, the  Christian  interest  was  in  a,  languishing  condition  ; ' 
and  the  tone  of  the  letters  addressed  to  the  Seven  Churches 
in  Asia  is  calculated  to  confirm  this  impression.  The  Church 
of  Laodicca  is  described  as  "  neither  cold  nor  hot ";  *  the 
Church  of  Sardis  is  admonished  to  "  strengthen  the  things 

•  See  Burton's  "  Lectures,"  i.  361.  "  2  John  i  ;  3  John  i. 

•  I  Pet.  V.  I  ;  Philem.  i.  *  Acts  xx.  28.  "  iVIark  iii.  17. 
'•  Jerome,  "  Comment,  on  Galatians,"  vi.  10. 

'  See  Vitringa,  "  Observationts  SacriK,"  lib.  iv.,  c.  7,  8.         *  Rev.  iii.  16. 


EXTENSION   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 


153 


which  remain  that  are  ready  to  die "; '  and  the  Church  of 
Ephesus  is  exhorted  to  "  remember  from  whence  she  has 
fallen,  and  repent,  and  do  the  first  works." '  When  it  was 
known  that  Christianity  was  under  the  ban  of  a  legal  proscrip- 
tion, it  was  not  strange  that  "  the  love  of  many  "  waxed  cold  ; 
and  the  persecutions  of  Nero  and  Domitian  had  a  most  dis- 
couraging influence.  But  though  the  Church  had  to  encounter 
the  withering  blasts  of  popular  odium  and  imperial  intoler- 
ance, it  struggled  through  an  ungenial  spring  ;  and,  in  almost 
every  part  of  the  Roman  Empire,  it  had  taken  root  and  was 
beginning  to  exhibit  tokens  of  a  steady  and  vigorous  growth 
as  early  as  the  close  of  the  first  century.  The  Acts  and  the 
apostolical  epistles  speak  of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in 
Palestine,  Syria,  Cyprus,  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Illyricum,  and 
Italy  ;  and,  according  to  traditions  which  we  have  no  reason 
to  discredit,  the  way  of  salvation  was  proclaimed,  before  the 
death  of  John,  in  various  other  countries.  It  is  probable  that 
Paul  himself  assisted  in  laying  the  foundations  of  the  Church 
in  Spain  ;  at  an  early  date  there  were  disciples  in  Gaul  ;  and, 
before  the  close  of  the  first  century,  the  new  faith  had  been 
planted  even  on  the  distant  shores  of  Britain.'  Mark  labored 
successfully  as  an  evangelist  in  Alexandria,  the  metropolis  of 
Egypt  ;  ^  and  Christians  were  soon  to  be  found  in  "  the  parts 
of  Libya  about  Cyrene,"  ^  for  the  Jews  from  that  district  who 
were  converted  at  Jerusalem  by  Peter's  famous  sermon  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  did  not  fail,  on  their  return  home,  to  dis- 
seminate the  precious  truths  by  which  they  had  been  quick- 
ened and  comforted.  Thus,  too,  the  Gospel  soon  found  its 
way  into  Parthia,  Media,  Persia,  Arabia,  and  Mesopotamia.^ 
Various  traditions '  attest  that  several  of  the  apostles  travelled 
eastward,  after  their  departure  from  the  capital  of  Palestine. 
Whilst  Christianity,  in  the  face  of  much  obloquy,  was  gradu- 

1  Rev.  iii.  2.  2  Rgy   n  5. 

'  Claudia,  the  wife  of  Puclens,  supposed  to  be  mentioned  2  Tim.  iv.  21,  is 
said  to  have  been  a  Briton  by  birth.  See  Fuller's  "  Church  History  of  Brit- 
ain," vol.  i.,  p.  II  ;  Edit.  London,  1837, 

*  Euseb.  ii.  16.  ^  Acts  ii.  10.  "  Acts  ii.  9,  11. 

'  See  in  Cave's  "  Fathers,"  Bartholomew,  Matthew,  and  Thomas. 


154  PRACTICAL   INFLUENCE   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

ally  attracting  more  and  more  attention,  it  was  at  the  same 
time  nobly  demonstrating  its  power  as  the  great  regenerator 
of  society.  The  religion  of  pagan  Rome  could  not  satisfy  the 
wants  of  the  soul  ;  it  could  neither  improve  the  heart  nor  in- 
vigorate the  intellect ;  and  it  was  now  rapidly  losing  its  hold 
on  the  consciences  of  the  multitude.  The  high  places  of 
idolatrous  worship  often  exercised  a  most  demoralizing  influ- 
ence, as  their  rites  were  not  unfrequently  a  wretched  mixture 
of  brutality,  levity,  imposture,  and  prostitution.  Philosophy 
had  completely  failed  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  man.  The 
vices  of  some  of  its  most  distinguished  professors  were  notori- 
ous ;  its  votaries  were  pretty  generally  regarded  as  a  class  of 
scheming  speculators ;  and  they,  enjoyed  neither  the  confi- 
dence nor  the  respect  of  the  mass  of  the  people.  But,  even 
under  the  most  unpromising  circumstances,  Christianity  accom- 
plished social  and  spiritual  changes  of  a  very  extraordinary 
character.  The  Church  of  Corinth  was  one  of  the  least  exem- 
plary of  the  early  Christian  communities,  and  yet  it  stood  on  a 
moral  eminence  far  above  the  surrounding  population  ;  and, 
from  the  roll  of  its  own  membership,  it  could  produce  cases  of 
conversion  to  which  nothing  parallel  was  found  in  the  whole 
history  of  heathendom.  Paul  could  say  to  it  :  "  Neither  forni- 
cators, nor  idolaters,  nor  adulterers,  nor  effeminate,  nor  abus- 
ers of  themselves  with  mankind,  nor  thieves,  nor  covetous,  nor 
drunkards,  nor  revilers,  nor  extortioners,  shall  inherit  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  such  were  some  of  you  ;  but  ye  are  washed, 
but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  God." '  Nor  was  this  all. 
The  Gospel  proved  itself  sufficient  to  meet  the  highest  aspira- 
tions of  man.  It  revealed  to  him  a  Friend  in  heaven  who 
"sticketh  closer  than  a  brother";'  and,  as  it  assured  him  of 
eternal  happiness  in  the  enjoyment  of  fellowship  with  God,  it 
imparted  to  him  a  "  peace  that  passeth  all  understanding." 
The  Roman  people  witnessed  a  new  spectacle  when  they  saw 
the  primitive  followers  of  Christ  expiring  in  the  fires  of  mar- 
tyrdom.   The  pagans  did  not  so  value  their  superstitions ;  but 

'  1  Cor.  vi.  9-1 1,  ^Prov.  .wiii.  24. 


PRACTICAL  INFLUENCE   OF   CHRISTIANITY.  1 55 

here  was  a  religion  which  was  accounted  "  better  than  Hfe." 
Well  then  might  the  flames  which  illuminated  the  gardens  of 
Nero  supply  some  spiritual  light  to  the  crowds  who  were  pres- 
ent at  the  sad  scene  ;  and,  in  the  indomitable  spirit  of  the  first 
sufferers,  the  thoughtful  citizen  recognized  a  system  which  was 
destined  yet  to  subdue  the  world. 


SECTION  II. 


THE   LITERATURE  AND  THEOLOGY  OF    THE  APOSTOLIC 
CHURCH. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE   NEW   TESTAMENT,    ITS   HISTORY,   AND   THE   AUTHORITY 

OF   ITS  VARIOUS   PARTS.      THE   EPISTLE   OF   CLEMENT 

OF   ROME. 

The  conduct  of  our  Lord,  as  a  religious  teacher,  betokened 
that  He  was  more  than  man.  Mohammed  dictated  the  Koran, 
and  left  it  behind  him  as  a  sacred  book  for  the  guidance  of  his 
followers ;  many  others,  who  have  established  sects,  have  also 
founded  a  literature  for  their  disciples  ;  but  Jesus  Christ  wrote 
nothing.  The  Son  of  God  was  not  obliged  to  condescend  to 
become  His  own  biographer,  and  thus  to  testify  of  Himself. 
He  had  at  His  disposal  the  hearts  and  the  pens  of  others  ;  and 
He  knew  that  His  words  and  actions  would  be  accurately  re- 
ported to  the  latest  generations.  During  His  personal  minis- 
try, even  His  apostles  were  only  imperfectly  acquainted  with 
His  theology;  but,  shortly  before  His  death.  He  promised  in 
due  time  to  disclose  more  fully  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
great  salvation.  He  said  to  them:  "The  Comforter,  which  is 
the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  he 
shall  teach  you  all  things,-  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remem- 
brance, whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you.'  ....  He  will  guide 
you  into  all  truth.  "  ^ 

The  resurrection  poured  a  flood  of  light  into  the  minds  of 

'John  xiv.  26.  'John  xvi.  13. 

(156) 


THE   GOSPELS.  1 5/ 

the  apostles,  and  they  forthwith  commenced  with  unwonted 
boldness  to  proclaim  the  truth  in  all  its  purity  and  power;  but 
no  part  of  the  evangelical  history  was  written  until  upwards 
of  twenty  years  after  the  death  of  our  Saviour.'  According  to 
tradition,  the  Gospels  of  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  then  ap- 
peared in  the  order  in  which  they  are  now  presented  in  our 
authorized  version."  All  these  narratives  were  published  sev- 
eral years  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  in  A.D.  70;  and  as  each 
contains  our  Lord's  announcement  of  its  speedy  catastrophe, 
the  exact  fulfilment  of  so  remarkable  a  prophecy  led  many  to 
acknowledge  the  divine  origin  of  the  Christian  religion.  The 
Gospel  of  John  is  of  a  much  later  date,  as  it  was  written  to- 
ward the  conclusion  of  the  century. 

Two  of  the  evangelists,  Matthew  and  John,  were  apostles; 
and  the  other  two,  Mark  and  Luke,  appear  to  have  been  of 
the  number  of  the  Seventy.'  All  were,  therefore,  fully 
competent  to  bear  testimony  to  the  facts  which  they  record, 
for  the  Seventy  had  "  companied  "  with  the  Twelve  "  all  the 
time  that  the  Lord  Jesus  went  in  and  out  among"  them,* 
and  all  "  were  from  the  beginning  eye-witnesses  and  ministers 
of  the  word."  ^     These  writers  mention  many  miracles  per- 

'  See  Ireneeus,  "  Adv.  Hasres,"  iii.  i  ;  and  Euseb.  vi.  14. 

*  It  is  probable  that  these  three  Gospels  were  written  nearly  at  the  same 
time.     See  Luke  i.  3,  4,  and  Euseb.  vi.  14. 

^Origen,  "Dial,  de  Recta  in  Deum  Fide,"  sec.  i.,  torn,  i.,  p.  806;  Edit. 
Delarue.  Paris,  1733.  See  Whitby's  "Preface  to  Luke."  There  is  good 
reason  to  believe  that  the  "  young  man  "  mentioned  Mark  xiv.  51,  52,  was  no 
other  than  Mark  himself  (Davidson's  "  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament," 
i.  139)  ;  and  if  so,  we  have  thus  additional  evidence  that  the  evangehst  had 
enjoyed  the  advantages  of  our  Lord's  ministry.  He  had  always  been  reputed 
the  founder  of  the  Church  of  Alexandria,  and  the  testimony  of  Origen  to  the 
fact  that  he  was  one  of  the  Seventy  is  therefore  of  special  value ;  as  the 
Alexandrian  presbyter  was  well  acquainted  with  the  traditions  of  the  Church 
of  the  Egyptian  metropolis.  The  genealogies  of  Matthew  and  Luke  singu- 
larly corroborate  what  is  stated  in  a  preceding  chapter  respecting  the  Twelve 
and  the  Seventy.  Bengel  remarks  that  Matthew  "begins  with  Adra/mm," 
but  Luke  "  makes  a  full  recapitulation  and  summary  of  the  lineage  of  M^ 
w/io/e  human  race,  and  exhibits  with  that  lineage  the  Saviour's  consanguin- 
ity to  all  Gentiles,  as  v^ell  as  Jews."     Gnomon  on  Matt.  i.  16. 

*'  Acts  i.  21.  ^  Luke  i.  2. 


158  THE   GOSPELS. 

formed  by  Christ,  and  at  least  three  of  the  Gospels  were  in 
general  circulation  whilst  multitudes  were  still  alive  who  are 
described  in  them  as  either  the  spectators  or  the  subjects  of 
His  works  of  wonder  ;  and  yet,  though  the  evangelists  often 
enter  most  minutely  into  details,  so  that  their  statements,  if 
capable  of  contradiction,  could  have  been  at  once  challenged 
and  exposedj  we  do  not  find  that  any  attempt  was  mean- 
while made  to  impeach  their  accuracy.  Their  manner  of  re- 
cording the  acts  of  the  Great  Teacher  is  characterized  by  re- 
markable simplicity;  and  the  most  acute  reader  in  vain  seeks 
to  detect  in  it  the  slightest  trace  of  concealment  or  exaggera- 
tion. Matthew  artlessly  confesses  that  he  belonged  to  the 
odious  class  of  publicans  ; '  Mark  tells  how  Peter,  his  friend 
and  companion,  "  began  to  curse  and  to  swear,"  and  to  de- 
clare that  he  knew  not  the  Man  ;  "^  Luke,  who  wds  probably 
one  of  the  two  brethren  who  journeyed  to  Emmaus,  informs 
us  how  Jesus  drew  near  to  them  on  the  way  and  upbraided 
them  as  "  fools,  and  slow  of  heart  to  believe  all  that  the 
prophets  had  spoken  "; '  and  John  honestly  repudiates  the 
pretended  prediction  setting  forth  that  he  himself  was  not  to 
die."  Each  evangelist  mentions  incidents  unnoticed  by  the 
others,  and  thus  supplies  proof  that  he  is  entitled  to  the 
credit  of  an  original  and  independent  witness.  Matthew 
alone  gives  the  formula  of  baptism  "  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost "; '  Mark 
alone  speaks  of  the  great  amazement  of  the  people  as  they 
beheld  the  face  of  Christ  on  His  descent  from  the  Mount  of 
Transfiguration  ;  *  Luke  alone  announces  the  appointment  of 
the  Seventy;'  and  John  alone  records  some  of  those  sublime 
discourses  in  which  our  Lord  treats  of  the  doctrine  of  His 
Sonship,  of  the  mission  of  the  Comforter,  and  of  the  mysteri- 
ous union  between  Himself  and  His  people."  All  the  evan- 
gelists direct  our  special  attention  to  the  scene  of  the  cruci- 
fixion. As  they  proceed  to  describe  it,  they  obviously  feel 
that  they  are  dealing  with  a  transaction  of  awful  import  ;  and 

'  Matt.  ix.  9.  X.  3.  ^  Mark  xiv.  71.  '  Lukt-  xxiv.  25. 

*  John  xxi.  23.  •■'  Matt,  xxviii.   19.  "  Mark  ix.  15. 

'  Luke  x.  I.  •  John  xiv.,  xv.,  xvi.,  xvii. 


THE   ACTS   OF   THE   APOSTLES.  1 59 

they  accordingly  become  more  impressive  and  circumstantial. 
Their  statements,  when  combined,  furnish  a  complete  and 
consistent  narrative  of  the  sore  travail,  the  deep  humiliation, 
and  the  dying  utterances  of  the  illustrious  sufferer. 

If  the  appointment  of  the  Seventy  indicated  our  Lord's  in- 
tention of  sending  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  there  was  a  peculiar  propriety  in  the  selection  of  an 
individual  of  their  number  as  the  historian  of  the  earliest  mis- 
sionary triumphs.  When  Luke  records  the  wonderful  suc- 
cess of  Christianity  among  the  Gentiles,  he  takes  care  to  point 
out  the  peculiar  features  of  the  new  economy  ;  and  thus  it  is 
that  his  narrative  abounds  with  passages  in  which  the  doc- 
trine, polity,  and  worship  of  the  primitive  disciples  are  illus- 
trated or  explained.  It  is  well  known  that  the  titles  of  the 
several  parts  of  the  New  Testament  were  prefixed  to  them, 
not  by  their  authors,  but  at  a  subsequent  period  by  parties 
who  had  no  claim  to  inspiration  ; '  and  the  book  called  "  The 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  "  has  not  been  very  correctly  designated. 
It  is  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the  acts  of  Peter  and  Paul, 
and  it  sketches  only  a  portion  of  their  proceedings.  As  its 
narrative  terminates  at  the  end  of  Paul's  second  year's  impris- 
onment at  Rome,  it  was  probably  written  about  that  period. 
Superficial  readers  have  objected  to  its  information  as  curt 
and  fragmentary ;  but  the  careful  investigator  will  discover 
that  it  marks  with  great  distinctness  the  most  important 
stages  in  the  early  development  of  the  Church.'  It  shows 
how  Christianity  spread  rapidly  among  the  Jews  from  the 
day  of  Pentecost  to  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen  ;  it  points  out 
how  it  then  took  root  among  the  Gentiles  ;  and  it  continues 
to  trace  its  dissemination  from  Judea  westward,  till  it  was 
firmly  planted  by  the  apostle  of  the  uncircumcision  in  the 
metropolis  of  the  Empire. 

It  would  appear  that  some  of  the  fourteen  epistles  of 
Paul  were  written  before  any  other  portion  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, for  we  have  already  seen  ^  that  the  greater  number  ol 

'  See  Home's  "  Introduction,"  ii.  173.     Sixth  Edition. 

^  See  Baumgarten  on  Acts  vii.,  viii.,  ix.,  xiii. 

*  Period  !.,  see.,  i.,  chap.  7,  8,  9.  « 


l6o  THE   EPISTLES   OF   PAUL. 

them  were  transmitted  to  the  parties  to  whom  they  are  ad- 
dressed during  the  time  over  which  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
extend  ;  but  though  Luke  makes  no  mention  of  these  letters, 
his  account  of  the  travels  of  their,  author  throws  considerable 
light  on  the  question  of  their  chronology.  Guided  by  state- 
ments which  he  supplies,  and  by  evidence  contained  in  the 
documents  themselves,  we  have  endeavored  to  point  out  the 
order  of  their  composition.  They  are  not  placed  chronologi- 
cally in  the  New  Testament.  The  present  arrangement  is, 
however,  of  great  antiquity,  as  it  can  be  traced  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fourth  century  ;'  and  it  is  made  on  the  principle 
that  the  Churches  addressed  should  be  classed  according  to 
their  relative  importance.  The  Church  of  Rome  at  an  early 
period  was  recognized  as  the  most  influential,  and  hence  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  stands  at  the  head  of  the  collection. 
The  Church  of  Corinth  ranked  next,  and  accordingly  the 
Epistles  to  the  Corinthians  occupy  the  second  place.  The 
letters  to  the  Churches  are  followed  by  those  to  individuals, 
that  is,  to  Timothy,  Titus,  and  Philemon  ;  and  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  is  put  last,  because  it  is  anonymous.  Some 
have  contended  that  this  letter  was  composed  by  Barnabas  ; 
others  have  ascribed  it  to  Clement,  or  Luke,  or  Silas,  or  Apol- 
los  ;  but,  though  Paul  has  not  announced  his  name,  the  ex- 
ternal and  internal  evidences  concur  to  prove  that  he  was  its 
author.^ 

"  Every  word  of  God  is  pure," '  but  the  word  of  man  is 
often  deceitful ;  and  nowhere  are  his  faUibility  and  ignorance 
revealed  more  conspicuously  than  in  his  appendages  to  Script- 
ure. Even  the  titles  prefixed  to  the  writings  of  the  apostles 
and  evangelists  are  redolent  of  superstition;  for  no  satisfac- 
tory reason  can  be  given  why  the  designation  of  saint  ^  has 

'  Home,  iv.  359. 

'  See  Wordsworth  "On  the  Canon,"  Lectures  viii.  ix.         '  Prov.  xxx.  5. 

*  This  designation  is  not  found  in  the  most  ancient  manuscripts.  Thus, 
in  the  very  ancient  "  Recension  of  the  Four  Gospels  in  Syriac,"  recently 
edited  by  Dr.  Cureton,  we  have  simply — "Gospel  of  Mark  " — "  Gospel  of 
John,"  etc.  See  p.  6,  Preface.  See  also  any  ordinary  edition  of  the  Greek 
Testament. 


THE   GENERAL   EPISTLES.  l6l 

been  bestowed  on  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John,  when  it 
is  withheld,  not  only  from  Moses  and  Isaiah,  but  also  from 
such  eminently  holy  ministers  as  Timothy  and  Titus.  The 
postscripts  to  the  epistles  of  Paul  have  been  added  by  tran- 
scribers, and  are  also  calculated  to  mislead.  Thus,  the  Epistle 
to  the  Galatians  is  said  to  have  been  "  written  from  Rome," 
though  it  is  now  generally  acknowledged  that  Paul  was  not 
in  the  capital  of  the  Empire  till  after  that  letter  was  dictated. 
The  first  Epistle  to  Timothy  is  dated  "  from  Laodicea,  which 
is  the  chiefest  city  of  Phrygia  Pacatiana";  but  it  is  well 
known  that  Phrygia  was  not  divided  into  Phrygia  Prima,  or 
Pacatiana,  and  Phrygia  Secunda  until  the  fourth  century.'  It 
is  stated  at  the  end  of  another  epistle  that  it  was  "  written  to 
Titus,  ordained  the  first  Bishop  of  the  Church  of  the  Cre- 
tians  ";  but,  as  the  letter  itself  demonstrates,  Paul  did  not 
intend  that  Titus  should  remain  permanently  in  Crete,"  and 
it  can  be  shown  that,  for  centuries  afterward,  such  a  digni- 
tary as  "  the  Bishop  of  the  Church  of  the  Cretians "  was 
utterly  unknown. 

The  seven  letters  written  by  James,  Peter,  Jude,  and  John, 
are  called  General  or  Catholic  epistles.  The  Epistle  of  James 
was  addressed  "  to  the  twelve  tribes  scattered  abroad  "  prob- 
ably in  A.D.  6i,  and  its  author  survived  its  publication  little 
more  than  twelve  months.'  Peter,  as  we  have  seen,  wrote  his 
two  epistles  only  a  short  time  before  his  martyrdom."  The 
Epistle  of  Jude  is  the  production  of  a  later  period,  as  it  con- 
tains quotations  from  the  Second  Epistle  of  Peter.^  The  exact 
dates  of  the  Epistles  of  John  can  not  now  be  discovered,  but 
they  supply  internal  proof  that  they  were  written  toward  the 
close  of  the  first  century." 

According  to  some,  the  Apocalypse,  or  Revelation  of  John, 
was  drawn  up  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  in  the 

'  Home,  ii.  174.  ^  Titus  iii.  12. 

'Some,  however,  assign  to  it  a  much  earlier  date.    See  Davidson's  "  In- 
troduction to  the  New  Testament,"  iii.  320. 
*See  Period  i„  sec.  i.,  chap.  10,  p.  143. 
*  See  Wordsworth  "  On  the  Canon,"  p.  273. 
'See  Davidson's  "  Introduction,"  iii.  464,  491. 
II 


1 62  THE   NEW   TESTAMENT   CANON. 

time  of  the  Emperor  Nero ;  but  the  arguments  in  support  of 
so  early  an  origin  are  very  unsatisfactory.  Ancient  writers ' 
attest  that  it  was  written  in  the  reign  of  Domitian  toward  the 
close  of  the  first  century,  and  the  truth  of  this  statement  is 
established  by  various  collateral  evidences. 

The  divine  authority  of  the  four  Gospels  and  of  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  was,  from  their  first  appearance,  universally 
acknowledged  in  the  ancient  Church/  These  books  were 
publicly  read  in  the  religious  assemblies  of  the  primitive 
Christians,  and  were  placed  on  a  level  with  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures.'  The  epistles  of  Paul  occupied  an  equally  honor- 
able position.*  In  the  second  and  third  centuries  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  was  not,  indeed,  received  among  the  sacred 
books  by  the  Church  of  Rome ;  ^  but  at  an  earlier  period  its 
inspiration  was  acknowledged  by  the  Christians  of  the  great 
city,  for  it  is  quoted  as  the  genuine  work  of  the  Apostle  Paul 
by  an  eminent  Roman  pastor  who  flourished  in  the  first  cent- 
ury." The  authority  of  two  of  the  most  considerable  of  the 
Catholic  epistles  —  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter  and  the  First 
Epistle  of  John — was  never  questioned;'  but,  for  a  time, 
there  were  churches  which  doubted  the  claims  of  the  five  oth- 
ers to  be  ranked  amongst  "the  Scriptures.'"  The  multitude 
of  spurious  writings  which  were  then  abroad  suggested  to  the 
disciples  the  necessity  of  caution,  and  hence  suspicions  arose 
in  certain  cases  where  they  were  destitute  of  foundation.  But 
these  suspicions,  which  never  were  entertained  by  more  than 
a  minority  of  the  churches,  gradually  passed  away  ;    and  at 

'Irericeus,  r.  30.     Euseb.  iii.  18. 

'  See  Wordsworth  "On  the  Canon,"  pp.  157,  160,  249  ;  and  Euseb.  iii.  25. 

'-Justin  Martyr,  ap.  i.  67.  "  2  Pet.  iii.  16. 

"Wordsworth  "  On  the  Canon,"  p.  205. 

° "  The  allusions  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  are  so  numerous  that  it  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  it  was  wholly  transfused  into  Clement's  mind." — 
Wesfco/t  on  the  Cano>t,  p.  32.     See  also  Euseb.  iii.  38. 

'  Wordsworth  "On  the  Canon,"  p.  249. 

*"The  word  {ypai^li)  translated  Scripture,  which  properly  means  simply  a 
•writing,  occurs  fifty  times  in  the  New  Testament ;  and  in  all  these  fifty 
places,  it  is  applied  to  the  writings  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  and  to 
no  other." — Wordsworth,  pp.  185,  186. 


THE   NEW   TESTAMENT   CANON.  163 

length,  toward  the  close  of  the  fourth  century  the  whole  of 
what  are  now  called  the  Catholic  epistles  were  received,  by 
unanimous  consent,  as  inspired  documents.'  The  Apocalypse 
was  acknowledged  to  be  a  divine  revelation  as  soon  as  it  ap- 
peared ;  and  its  credit  remained  unimpeached  till  the  question 
of  the  Millennium  began  to  create  discussion.  Its  authentici- 
ty was  then  challenged  by  some  parties  who  took  an  interest 
in  the  controversy ;  but  it  still  continued  to  be  regarded  as  a 
part  of  Holy  Scripture  by  the  majority  of  Christians,  and  there- 
is  no  book  of  the  New  Testament  in  behalf  of  which  a  title  to 
a  divine  original  can  be  established  by  more  conclusive  and 
ample  evidence.^ 

We  thus  see  that,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  short  epistles 
which  some  hesitated  to  accredit,  the  New  Testament,  in 
the  first  century,  was  acknowledged  as  the  Word  of  God  by 
all  the  Apostohcal  Churches.  Its  various  parts  were  not 
then  included  in  a  single  volume  ;  and  as  a  considerable  time 
elapsed  before  copies  of  every  one  of  them  were  universally 
disseminated,  it  is  not  to  be  thought  extraordinary  if  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  letter,  several  years  after  it  was  written,  and  in 
quarters  where  it  had  been  previously  unknown,  awakened 
suspicion  or  scepticism.  But  the  slender  objections,  advanced 
under  such  circumstances,  gradually  vanished  before  the  light 
of  additional  evidence ;  and  it  may  safely  be  asserted  that  the 
whole  of  the  documents,  now  known  as  the  Scriptures  of  the 
New  Testament,  were  received,  as  parts  of  a  divine  revelation, 
by  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  early  Christians.  The 
present  division  into  chapters  and  verses  was  introduced  at 
a  period  comparatively  recent ;  '  but  stated  portions  of  the 

'Wordsworth,  pp.  249,  250. 

"See  Davidson's  "Introduction,"  iii.  540-550. 

^  See  Home's  "Introduction,"  ii.  168.  The  author  of  the  present  di- 
vision into  chapters  is  said  to  have  been  Hugo  de  Sancto  Caro,  a  learned 
writer  who  flourished  about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
New  Testament  was  first  divided  into  verses  by  Robert  Stephens  in  1551. 
The  Geneva  New  Testament,  published  in  1557,  was  the  first  English  ver- 
sion into  which  these  divisions  of  Stephens  were  introduced.  The  Church 
of  Rome  has  adopted  this  Protestant  arrangement.  Stephens  died  at 
Geneva  in  1559. 


l64  THE   NEW   TESTAMENT   CANON. 

writings  of  the  apostles  and  evangelists  were  read  by  the 
primitive  disciples  at  their  religious  meetings,  and  for  the  di- 
rection of  the  reader,  as  well  as  for  the  facility  of  reference, 
the  arrangement  was  soon  notified  in  the  manuscripts  by  cer- 
tain marks  of  distinction,'  It  is  well  known  that  in  the 
ancient  Churches  persons  of  all  classes  and  conditions  were 
encouraged  and  required  to  apply  themselves  to  the  study  of 
the  sacred  records ;  that  even  children  were  made  acquainted 
with  the  Scriptures ; ''  and  that  the  private  perusal  of  the  in- 
spired testimonies  was  considered  an  important  means  of 
individual  edification.  All  were  invited  and  stimulated  by 
special  promises  to  meditate  upon  the  mysterious,  as  well  as 
the  plain,  passages  of  the  book  of  Revelation.  "  Blessed," 
says  the  Apostle  John,  "  is  he  that  readeth,  and  t/iey  that  hear 
the  words  of  this  prophecy,  and  keep  those  things  which  are 
written  therein."  ' 

The  original  manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
from  the  first  were  accessible  to  comparatively  few,  have  all  long 
since  disappeared ;  and  it  is  now  impossible  to  tell  whether 
they  were  worn  away  by  the  corroding  tooth  of  time,  or 
destroyed  in  seasons  of  persecution.  Copies  of  them  were 
rapidly  multiplied  ;  and  though  heathen  adversaries  displayed 
no  small  amount  of  malice  and  activity,  it  was  soon  found  im- 
possible to  effect  their  annihilation.  It  was  not  necessary  that 
the  apostolic  autographs  ^  should  be  preserved  forever,  as  the 
records,  when  transcribed,  still  retained  the  best  and  clearest 
proofs  of  their  inspiration.  They  did  not  require  even  the 
imprimatur  of  the  Church,  for  they  exhibited  in  every  page 
the  stamp  of  divinity;  and  as  soon  as  they  were  published, 
they  commended  themselves  by  the  internal  tokens  of  their 
heavenly  lineage  to  the  acceptance  of  the  faithful.  "  The 
Word  of  God  is  quick  and  powerful,"  and  every  one  who  pe- 
ruses the  New  Testament  in  a  right  spirit  feels  that  it  has 
emanated  from  the  Searcher  of  hearts.     It  speaks  to  the  con- 

'  Home  ii.  169.  '  John  v.  39  ;  2  Tim.  iii.  15. 

'  Rev.  i.  3.     See  also  2  Peter  i.  19. 

*  Paul's  epistles  were  often  written  with  the  hand  of  another.     See  Rom 
xvi.  22  ;  2  Thcss.  iii.  17. 


THE   EPISTLE   OF   CLEMENT.  165 

science ;  it  has  all  the  simplicity  and  majesty  of  a  divine  com- 
munication;  it  enlightens  the  understanding;  and  it  converts 
the  soul.  No  mere  man  could  have  invented  such  a  character 
as  the  Saviour  it  reveals ;  no  mere  man  could  have  contrived 
such  a  system  of  mercy  as  that  which  it  announces.  The 
New  Testament  is  always  on  the  side  of  whatsoever  is  just, 
and  honest,  and  lovely,  and  of  good  report ;  it  glorifies  God ; 
it  alarms  the  sinner ;  it  comforts  the  saint.  "  The  words  of 
the  Lord  are  pure  words,  as  silver  tried  in  a  furnace  of  earth 
purified  seven  times."  ' 

The  excellence  of  the  New  Testament  is  displayed  to  sin- 
gular advantage  when  contrasted  with  those  uninspired  pro- 
ductions of  nearly  the  same  date  which  emanated  from  the 
companions  of  the  apostles.  The  only  genuine  document  of 
this  nature  which  has  come  down  to  us,  and  which  belongs  to 
the  first  century,"  is  an  epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  It  was 
prepared  immediately  after  the  Domitian  persecution,  or  about 
A.D.  96,^  with  a  view  to  heal  certain  divisions  which  had 
sprung  up  in  the  religious  community  to  which  it  is  addressed  ; 
and,  though  written  in  the  name  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  is  the  composition  of 
Clement,  who  was  then  at  the  head  of  the  Roman  presbytery. 
The  advice  which  it  administers  is  most  judicious ;  and  the 
whole  letter  breathes  the  peaceful  spirit  of  a  devoted  Chris- 
tian pastor.  But  it  contains  passages  which  furnish  conclusive 
evidence  that  it  has  no  claims  whatever  to  inspiration ;  and 
its  illustration  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  is  in  itself 
more  than  sufificient  to  demonstrate  that  it  could  not  have 
been  dictated  under  any  supernatural  guidance.  "  There  is," 
says  Clement,*  "  a  certain  bird  called  the  phoenix.  Of  this 
there  is  never  but  one  at  a  time,  and  that  lives  five  hundred 

'  Ps.  xii.  6. 

^  The  epistle  to  Diognetus  may  have  been  written  in  the  first  century, 
but  it  is  commonly  referred  to  a  later  date. 

*  He  speaks  of  the  Church  of  Corinth  at  the  time  as  "  most  ancient " 
(§  47),  and  refers  to  the  Domitian  persecution.     See  Euseb.  iii.  15,  16. 

*  TertuUian  also  illustrates  the  resurrection  by  the  story  of  the  phoenix, 
"  De  Resurrec.  Cam."  c.  13. 


l66  THE   EPISTLE   OF  CLEMENT. 

years:  and  when  the  time  of  its  dissolution  draws  near  that 
it  must  die,  it  makes  itself  a  nest  of  frankincense,  and  myrrh, 
and  other  spices,  into  which,  when  its  time  is  fulfilled,  it  enters 
and  dies.  But  its  flesh  putrefying  breeds  a  certain  worm 
which,  being  nourished  with  the  juice  of  the  dead  bird,  brings 
forth  feathers  ;  and  when  it  is  grown  to  a  perfect  state,  it 
takes  up  the  nest  in  which  the  bones  of  its  parent  are,  and 
carries  it  from  Arabia  into  Egypt  to  a  city  called  Heliopolis ; 
and  flying  in  open  day,  in  the  sight  of  all  men,  lays  it  upon 
the  altar  of  the  Sun,  and  so  returns  from  whence  it  came. 
The  priests  then  search  into  the  records  of  the  time,  and  find 
that  it  returned  precisely  at  the  end  of  five  hundred  years."  ' 

In  point  of  education  the  authors  of  the  New  Testament 
did  not  generally  enjoy  higher  advantages  than  Clement ;  and 
yet,  writing  "  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,"  they 
were  prevented  from  giving  currency,  even  ir  a  single  in- 
stance, to  such  a  story  as  this  fable  of  the  phcenix.  All 
their  statements  will  be  found  to  be  true,  whether  tried 
by  the  standard  of  mental  or  of  moral  science,  of  geography, 
or  of  natural  history.  The  theology  which  they  teach  is  at 
once  sound  and  genial ;  and  those  by  whom  it  is  appreciated 
can  testify  that  whilst  it  invigorates  and  elevates  the  intellect, 
it  also  pacifies  the  conscience  and  purifies  the  heart. 

'  Clement's  "  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,"  §  25.  The  fragment  of  the 
second  epistle  is  not  generally  considered  genuine. 


CHAPTER   11. 

THE   DOCTRINE   OF   THE   APOSTOLIC   CHURCH. 

The  same  system  of  doctrine  is  inculcated  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  sacred  volume.  Though  upwards  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred years  elapsed  between  the  commencement  and  the  com- 
pletion of  the  canon  of  Scripture ;  though  its  authors  were 
variously  educated  ;  though  they  were  distinguished  as  well 
by  their  tastes  as  by  their  temperaments ;  and  though  they 
lived  in  different  countries  and  in  different  ages,  all  the  parts 
of  the  volume  called  the  Bible  exhibit  the  clearest  indications 
of  unity  of  design.  Each  writer  testifies  to  the  "one  faith," 
and  each  contributes  something  to  its  illustration.  Thus  it  is 
that  even  at  the  present  day  every  book  in  the  canon  is  "  good 
to  the  use  of  edifying."  The  announcements  made  to  our 
first  parents  will  continue  to  impart  spiritual  refreshment  to 
their  posterity  of  the  latest  generations ;  and  the  believer  can 
now  give  utterance  to  his  devotional  feelings  in  the  language 
of  the  Psalms,  as  appropriately  as  did  the  worshipper  of  old, 
when  surrounded  by  all  the  types  and  shadows  of  the  Leviti- 
cal  ceremonial. 

The  Old  Testament  is  related  to  the  New  as  the  dawn  to 
the  day,  or  the  prophecy  to  its  accomplishment.  Jesus  ap- 
peared merely  to  consummate  the  Redemption  which  "  the 
promises  made  to  the  fathers  "  had  announced.  "  Think  not," 
said  He,  "  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets, 
I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil." '  The  mission  of  our 
Lord  explained  many  things  which  had  long  remained  myste- 
rious ;  and,  in  allusion  to  the  great  amount  of  fresh  informa- 

'  Matt.  V.  17. 

(167) 


l68  JESUS   THE   CHRIST. 

tion  thus  communicated,  He  is  said  to  have  "  brought  Hfe  and 
immortality  to  light  through  the  Gospel."  i 

When  the  apostles  first  became  disciples  of  the  Son  of 
Mary,  their  views  were  certainly  very  indefinite  and  circum- 
scribed. Acting  under  the  influence  of  strong  attachment  to 
the  Wonderful  Personage  who  exhibited  such  wisdom  and 
performed  so  many  mighty  works,  they  promptly  obeyed  the 
invitation  to  come  and  follow  Him  ;  and  yet,  when  required 
to  tell  who  was  this  Great  Teacher  to  whom  they  were  at- 
tached by  the  charm  of  such  a  holy  yet  mysterious  fascina- 
tion, they  could  do  little  more  than  declare  their  conviction 
that  Jesus  was  the  Christ.'  They  knew,  indeed,  that  the 
Messiah,  or  the  Great  Prophet,  was  to  be  a  Redeemer  and  a 
King ; '  but  they  did  not  understand  how  their  lowly  Master 
was  to  establish  His  title  to  such  high  offices.*  Though  they 
"looked  for  redemption"  and  "waited  for  the  kingdom  of 
God,"^  there  was  much  that  was  vague  as  well  as  much  that 
was  visionary  in  their  notions  of  the  Redemption  and  the 
Kingdom.  We  may  well  suppose  that  the  views  of  the  mul- 
titude were  still  less  correct  and  perspicuous.  Some  expected 
Christ  as  a  prophet,  to  decide  the  ecclesiastical  controversies 
of  the  age ; '  others  anticipated  that,  as  Redeemer,  He  would 
deliver  His  countrymen  from  Roman  domination;'  whilst 
others  again  cherished  the  hope  that,  as  a  King,  He  would 
erect  in  Judea  a  mighty  monarchy."  The  expectation  of  the 
establishment  of  His  temporal  dominion  was  long  entertained 
even  by  those  who  had  been  taught  to  regard  Him  as  a  spir- 
itual Saviour.* 

During  the  interval  between  the  resurrection  and  ascension 
the  apostles  profited  greatly  by  the  teaching  of  our  Lord. 
"  Then  opened  he  their  understanding  that  they  might  un- 
derstand the  Scriptures," '"  showing  that  all  things  were  "  fuK 
filled  which  were  written   in   the   law   of   Moses,  and   in   th(; 

'  2  Tim.  i.  lo.  '■'  Matt.  xvi.  i6  ;  John  i.  41. 

« Luke  xxiv.  19,  21  ;  John  i.  49.  *  Matt.  xvi.  21,  22  ;  John  xii.  34. 

*  Mark  xv,  43  ;  Luke  ii.  38.  *  John  iv.  20-25. 

'John  xix.  12.  '  Matt.  ii.  2,  3,  xx.  21  ;  John  vi.  15. 

•  Acts  i.  6.  '"  Luke  xxiv.  45. 


THE  WRITTEN   WORD.  169 

Prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms "  ^  concerning  Him.  The  true 
nature  of  Christ's  Kingdom  was  now  fully  disclosed  to  them ; 
they  saw  that  the  history  of  Jesus  was  embodied  in  the  an- 
cient predictions  ;  and  their  ideas  were  brought  into  harmony 
with  the  revelations  of  the  Old  Testament.  On  the  day  of 
Pentecost  they  received  additional  illumination  ;  and  thus, 
maturely  qualified  for  the  duties  of  their  apostleship,  they  be- 
gan to  publish  the  great  salvation.  Even  afterward  their 
knowledge  continued  to  expand ;  for  they  had  yet  to  be 
taught  that  the  Gentiles  also  were  heirs  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  ;^  that  uncircumcised  believers  were  to  be  admitted  to 
all  the  privileges  of  ecclesiastical  fellowship ; '  and  that  the  cere- 
monial law  had  ceased  to  be  obligatory.^ 

We  do  not  require,  however,  to  trace  the  progress  of  en- 
lightenment in  the  minds  of  the  original  heralds  of  the  Gos- 
pel, that  we  may  ascertain  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostolic 
Church ;  for  in  the  New  Testament  we  have  a  complete  and 
unerring  exposition  of  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints.  We 
have  seen  that,  with  a  few  comparatively  trivial  exceptions, 
all  the  documents  dictated  by  the  apostles  and  evangelists 
were  at  once  recognized  as  inspired  ; '  so  that  in  them,  com- 
bined with  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  we  have  a  perfect  ecclesi- 
astical statute-book.  The  doctrine  set  forth  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament was  cordially  embraced  in  the  first  centuiy  by  all  gen- 
uine believers.  And  it  can  not  be  too  emphatically  inculcated 
that  the  written  Word  was  of  paramount  authority  among  the 
primitive  Christians.  The  Israelites  had  traditions  which  they 
professed  to  have  received  from  Moses,  but  our  Lord  repudi- 
ated these  fables  and  asserted  the  supremacy  of  the  Book  of 
Inspiration."  In  His  own  discourses  He  honored  the  Script- 
ures by  continually  quoting  from  them,'  and  He  commanded 
the  Jews  to  refer  to  them  as  the  only  sure  arbiters  of  His  pre- 
tensions.' The  apostles  followed  His  example.  More  than 
one-half  of  the  sermon  preached  by  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pen- 

'  Luke  xxiv.  44.  =  Acts  x.  34,  35.  =  Acts  xi.  3,  17. 

■*  Heb.  X.  I,  14,  18.  '  Period  i.,  sec.  ii.,  chap.  i.  *  Mark  vii.  7-9. 

'  Matt.  iv.  i-io,  xii.  3,  5,  7  ;  Mark  xii.  26.  'John  v.  39. 


I/O  THE   WRITTEN   WORD. 

tecost  consisted  of  passages  selected  from  the  Old  Testament.' 
The  Scriptures,  too,  inculcate  not  only  their  claims  as  stand- 
ards of  ultimate  appeal,  but  also  their  sufificiency  to  meet  all 
the  wants  of  the  faithful ;  for  they  profess  to  be  "  able  to 
make  wise  unto  salvation,'""  and  to  be  "profitable  for  doc- 
trine, for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteous- 
ness;  that  the  man  of  God  may  h^  perfect,  thoroughly  fur- 
nished  iinto  all  good  works''  ^  The  sacred  records  teach,  with 
equal  clearness,  their  own  plenary  inspiration.  Each  writer 
has  peculiarities  of  style,  and  yet  each  uses  language  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  dictates.  In  the  New  Testament  a  single 
word  is  more  than  once  made  the  basis  of  an  argument,'  and 
doctrines  are  repeatedly  established  by  a  critical  examination 
of  particular  forms  of  expression.^  When  statements  ad- 
vanced by  Moses  or  David  or  Isaiah  are  adduced,  they  are 
often  prefaced  with  the  intimation  that  thus  "  the  Holy 
Ghost  saith," '  or  thus  "  it  is  spoken  of  the  Lord." '  The 
apostles  plainly  aver  that  they  employ  language  of  infallible 
authority.  "  We  speak,"  says  Paul,  "  in  the  zvords  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  teacheth."  '  "All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspira- 
tion of  God."' 

It  is  of  unutterable  importance  to  know  that  the  Scriptures 
are  the  very  word  of  the  Lord,  for  they  relate  to  our  highest 
interests  ;  and  were  they  of  less  authority,  they  could  not  com- 
mand our  entire  confidence.  The  momentous  truths  which 
they  reveal  are  in  every  way  worthy  to  be  recorded  in  memo- 
rials given  by  inspiration  of  God.  Under  the  ancient  econo- 
my the  sinner  was  assured  of  a  Redeemer;'"  and  intimations 
were  not  wanting  that  his  deliverance  would  be  wrought  out 
in  a  way  fitted  to  excite  the  wonder  of  the  whole  intelligent 
creation  ; "  but  the  New  Testament  lifts  the  veil,  and  sheds  a 
glorious  radiance  over  the  revelation  of  mercy.  According  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  Apostolic  Church  the  human  race  are  at 

*  Acts  ii.  14-36.  "^  2  Tim.  iii.  15.  ^  2  Tim.  iii.  16,  17. 

*  Matt.  xxii.  43,  45  ;  Gal.  iii.  16  ;  Heb.  ii.  8,  1 1." 

•John  X.  34,  35  ;  Heb.  viii.  13.  °  Acts  xxviii.  25  ;  Heb.  iii.  7. 

'  Heb.  i.  1,2;  Matt.  i.  22,  ii.  15.  '  i  Cor.  ii.  13.  °  2  Tim.  iii.  16. 

"  Gen.  iii.  15  ;  Ps.  cxxx.  7,  8 ;  Dan.  ix.  24.        "  Ps.  xcviii.  1-4  ■  Isa.  ix.  6, 


FAITH   IN   CHRIST.  I7I 

once  "  guilty  before  God," '  and  "  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins";"  and  as  Christ  in  the  days  of  His  flesh  called  forth 
Lazarus  from  the  tomb,  and  made  him  a  monument  of  His 
wonder-working  power,  so  by  His  word  He  still  awakens  dead 
sinners  and  calls  them  with  an  holy  calling,  that  they  may  be 
trophies  of  His  grace  throughout  all  eternity.  And  as  the 
restoration  of  hearing  is  an  evidence  of  the  restoration  of  life, 
so  the  reception  of  the  word  by  faith  is  a  sure  token  of  spir- 
itual vitality.  "He  that  heareth  -my  word^'  said  Christ,  "  and 
believeth  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting  life,  and  shall 
not  come  into  condemnation,  but  is  passed  from  death  unto 
lifer' 

Faith  is  to  the  soul  of  the  believer  what  the  living  organs 
are  to  his  body.  It  is  the  ear,  the  eye,  the  hand,  and  the 
palate  of  the  spiritual  man.  By  faith  he  hears  the  voice  of 
the  Son  of  God;*  by  faith  he  sees  Him  who  is  invisible;'  by 
faith  he  looks  unto  Jesus;*  by  faith  he  lays  hold  upon  the 
Hope  set  before  him  ; '  and  by  faith  he  tastes  that  the  Lord  is 
gracious.*  All  the  promises  are  addressed  to  faith  ;  and  by 
faith  they  are  appropriated  and  enjoyed.  By  faith  the  believer 
is  pardoned,"  sanctified,'"  sustained,"  and  comforted.'*  Faith  is 
the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things 
not  seen ;  '^  for  it  enables  us  to  anticipate  the  happiness  of 
heaven,  and  to  realize  the  truth  of  God. 

The  word  of  the  Lord  is  to  the  faith  of  the  Christian  what 
the  material  world  is  to  his  bodily  senses.  As  the  eye  gazes 
with  delight  on  the  magnificent  scenery  of  creation,  the  eye 
of  faith  contemplates  with  joy  unspeakable  the  exceedingly 
great  and  precious  promises.  And  as  the  eye  can  look  with 
pleasure  only  on  those  objects  which  it  sees,  faith  can  rest 
with  satisfaction  only  on  those  things  which  are  written  in  the 
book  of  God's  testimony.  It  has  been  "written  that  we  might 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  that 
beheving  we  might  have  life  through  his  name."  '* 

'  Rom.  iii.  19.  "^  Eph.  ii.  i.             '  John  v.  24.  *  Rev.  iii.  20. 

^  Heb.  xi.  27.  «  Heb.  xii.  2.           '  Heb.  vi.  18.  «  i  Pet.  ii.  3. 

"  Rom.  V.  I.                            "  Acts  XV.  9.  "  i  John  v.  4. 

*'^  Rom.  v.  2.                         "  Heb.  xi.  i.  "  John  xx.  31. 


172  THE   DEITY   OF   CHRIST. 

The  Scriptures  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  storehouse  of 
facts,  promises,  and  precepts,  without  relation  or  dependency ; 
but  a  volume  containing  a  collection  of  glorious  truths,  all 
forming  one  great  and  well-balanced  system.  Every  part  of 
revelation  refers  to. the  Redeemer;  and  His  earthly  history  is 
the  key  by  means  of  which  its  various  announcements  may 
be  illustrated  and  harmonized.  In  the  theology  of  the  New 
Testament  Christ  is  indeed  the  ''All  in  all."  In  addition  to 
many  other  illustrious  titles  which  He  bears,  He  is  represented 
as  "  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world,"'  "the  End  of  the  Law  for  righteousness  to  every 
one  that  believeth,"*  "  the  Head  of  the  Church,"^  "the  King 
of  kings,"*  and  "the  Hope  of  glory."'  During  His  public 
ministry  He  performed  miracles  such  as  had  been  previously 
understood  to  mark  the  peculiar  energy  of  Omnipotence ;  for 
He  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind;"  He  walked  upon  the 
waves  of  the  sea;'  He  made  the  storm  a  calm;'  and  he  de- 
clared to  man  what  was  His  thought."  In  his  capacity  of 
Saviour  He  exercises  attributes  which  are  essentially  divine ; 
as  He  redeems  from  all  iniquity,'"  and  pardons  sin,"  and  sanc- 
tifies the  Church,'"  and  opens  the  heart,'^  and  searches  the 
reins."  Had  Jesus  of  Nazareth  failed  to  assert  His  divine 
dignity,  the  credentials  of  His  mission  would  have  been  in- 
complete, for  the  Messiah  of  the  Old  Testament  is  no  other 
than  the  Monarch  of  the  universe.  Nothing  can  be  more 
obvious  than  that  the  ancient  prophets  invest  Him  with  the 
various  titles  and  attributes  of  Deity.  He  is  called  "  the 
Lord,""  "Jehovah,"'"  and  "God";"  He  is  represented  as 
the  object  of  worship;"  He  is  set  forth  as  the  King's  Son 

'  John  i.  29.  '  Rom.  x.  4.  '  Eph.  v.  23.  *  Rev.  xvii.  14. 

*  Col.  i.  27.  "  Ps.  cxlvi.  8,  compared  with  John  ix.  32,  33. 
'  Job  ix.  8,  compared  with  Matt.  xiv.  25. 

*  Ps.  cvii.  29,  compared  with  Luke  viii.  24. 

*  Amos  iv.  13,  compared  with  Matt.  xii.  25,  and  John  ii.  24,  25. 

'"  Tit.  ii.  14.  "  Mark  ii.  5-10.  •'-  Eph.  v.  26. 

"  Acts  xvi.  14 ;  Luke  xxiv.  45  "  Rev.  ii.  23.  "  Mai.  iii.  1. 

"  Isa.  xl.  3,  and  vi.  i,  compared  with  John  xii.  38-41. 
"  Isa.  xl.  3,  9;  Ps,  xlv.  5.  '"  Ps.  ii.  12. 


THE   DEITY   OF   CHRIST.  I73 

who  shall  daily  be  praised;"  and  He  is  exhibited  as  an  Al- 
mighty  and  Eternal  Friend  in  whom  all  that  put  their  trust 
are  blessed.'' 

During  the  public  ministry  of  our  Lord  the  Twelve  were 
not  altogether  ignorant  of  His  exalted  dignity ; '  and  yet  the 
most  decisive  attestations  to  His  Godhead  occur  after  His 
resurrection.*  When  the  apostles  surveyed  the  humble  indi- 
vidual with  whom  they  were  in  daily  intercourse,  it  is  not 
extraordinary  that  their  faith  faltered,  and  that  their  powers 
of  apprehension  failed,  as  they  pondered  the  prophecies  relat- 
ing to  His  advent.  When  they  attempted  closely  to  grapple 
with  the  amazing  truths  there  presented  to  their  contempla- 
tion, and  thought  of  "  the  Word  made  flesh,"  well  might  they 
be  overwhelmed  with  a  feeling  of  giddy  and  dubious  wonder. 
Even  after  the  resurrection  had  illustrated  so  marvellously  the 
announcements  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  disciples  still  con- 
tinued to  regard  them  with  a  species  of  bewilderment ;  and 
our  Saviour  himself  found  it  necessary  to  point  out  in  detail 
their  meaning  and  their  fulfilment.  "  Beginning  at  Moses  and 
all  the  prophets  he  expounded  to  them  in  all  the  Scriptures 
the  things  concerning  himself."^  The  whole  truth  as  to  the 
glory  of  His  person  now  flashed  upon  their  minds,  and  hence- 
forth they  do  not  scruple  to  apply  to  Him  all  the  lofty  titles 
bestowed  of  old  on  the  Messiah.  The  writers  of  the  New 
Testament  say  expressly  that  "Jesus  is  the  Lord,'"  and  "God 
blessed  forever";'  they  describe  believers  as  trusting  in  Him,* 
as  serving  Him,"  and  as  calhng  upon  His  name ; '"  and  they 
tell  of  saints  and  angels  uniting  in  the  celebration  of  His 
praise.''  Such  testimonies  amply  illustrate  their  ideas  of  His 
dignity. 

1  Ps.  Ixxii.  15. 

*  Ps.  ii.  12,  compared  with  Ps.  cxlvi.  3,  5,  and  Isa.  xxvi.  4. 

^  John  i.  49;  Matt.  xvi.  16,  17.  *  Such  as  John  xx.  28,  xxi.  17. 

'  Luke  xxiv.  27.  °  i  Cor.  xii.  3.  '  Rom.  ix.  5. 

»  Eph.  i.  12,  13 ;  Matt.  xii.  21.  °  Col.  iii.  24. 

1°  Acts  ix.  14;  I  Cor.  i.  2. 

•'  Rev.  V.  1 1-13.  Though  modern  criticism  has  shaken  the  credit  of  some 
passages  usually  quoted  in  support  of  the  Deity  of  Christ,  such  as  i  Tim.  iii, 
16,  it  has  discovered  others  equally  strong  not  now  in  the  received  text. 


174  THE   ATONEMENT. 

Divine  incarnations  were  recognized  in  the  heathen  myth- 
ology, so  that  the  Gentiles  could  not  well  object  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  assumption  of  our  nature  by  the  Son  of  God  ; 
but  Christianity  asserts  its  immense  superiority  to  pagan- 
ism in  its  account  of  the  design  of  the  union  of  humanity  and 
Deity  in  the  person  of  the  Redeemer.  According  to  the 
poets  of  Greece  and  Rome,  the  gods  often  adopted  material 
forms  for  the  vilest  of  purposes :  but  the  Lord  of  glory  was 
made  partaker  of  our  flesh  and  blood,'  to  satisfy  the  claims  of 
eternal  justice,  and  purchase  for  us  a  happy  and  immortal  in- 
heritance. In  the  cross  of  Christ  sin  appears  "  exceedingly 
sinful,"  and  the  divine  law  has  been  more  signally  honored  by 
His  sufferings  than  if  all  men  of  all  generations  had  forever 
groaned  under  its  chastisements.  The  Jewish  ritual  made  the 
apostles  perfectly  familiar  with  the  doctrine  of  atonement ; 
but  they  were  "  slow  of  heart  to  believe  "  that  their  Master 
was  Himself  the  Mighty  Sacrifice  represented  in  the  types  of 
the  Mosaic  ceremonial.^  The  evangelist  informs  us  that  He 
expounded  this  subject  after  His  resurrection,  showing  them 
that  "  thus  it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer." '  Still  the  crucifix- 
ion of  the  Saviour  was  to  multitudes  a  "  rock  of  offence." 
The  ambitious  Israelite,  who  expected  the  Messiah  to  go  forth 
conquering  and  to  conquer,  and  make  Palestine  the  seat  of 
universal  empire,  could  not  brook  the  thought  that  the  Great 
Deliverer  was  to  die  ;  and  the  learned  Greek,  who  looked  upon 
all  religion  with  leering  scepticism,  was  prepared  to  ridicule 
the  idea  of  the  burial  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  but  the  very  circum- 
stance which  aroused  such  prejudices,  suggested  to  those  pos- 
sessed of  spiritual  discernment  discoveries  of  stupendous 
grandeur.  Justice  demands  the  punishment  of  transgressors; 
mercy  pleads  for  their  forgiveness  ;  holiness  requires  the  ex- 
ecution of  God's  threatenings  ;  goodness  insists  on  the  fulfil- 
ment of  His  promises  ;  and  all  these  attributes  arc  harmonized 

See  Lachmann's  text  of  Col.  ii.  2,  and  i  Pet.  iii.  15;  and  Trefrelles  on  John 
i.  18,  and  his  "  Additions"  to  the  4th  vol.  of  Home's  "  introduction,"  pp. 
780-81,  Loh.lon,  i860.  See  also  the  Revised  version  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

'  Heb.  ii.  14.  ^  Matt.  xvi.  22.  '  Luke  xxiv.  46. 


PREDESTINATION   AND   THE   TRINITY.  1 75 

in  the  doctrine  of  a  Saviour  sacrificed.  God  is  "  just,  and  the 
justifier  of  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus."'  The  Son  of  Man 
"by  His  own  blood  obtained  eternal  redemption"^  for  His 
Church  ;  "  mercy  and  truth  meet  together"  in  His  expiation; 
and  His  death  is  thus  the  central  point  to  which  the  eye  of 
faith  is  now  directed.  Hence  Paul  says,  "  We  preach  Christ 
crucified,  unto  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block,  and  unto  the 
Greeks  foolishness ;  but  unto  them  which  are  called,  both 
Jews  and  Greeks,  Christ,  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom 
of  God."  ' 

The  doctrine  of  the  Apostolic  Church  is  simple  and  con- 
sistent, as  well  as  spiritual  and  sublime.  The  way  of  redemp- 
tion it  discloses  is  not  an  extempore  provision  of  Supreme 
benevolence  called  forth  by  an  unforeseen  contingency,  but  a 
plan  devised  from  eternity,  and  fitted  to  display  all  the  divine 
perfections  in  most  impressive  combination.  Whilst  it  recog- 
nizes the  voluntary  agency  of  man,  it  upholds  the  sovereignty 
of  God.  Jehovah  graciously  secures  the  salvation  of  every 
heir  of  the  promises  by  both  contriving  and  carrying  out  all 
the  arrangements  of  the  "  well-ordered  covenant."  His 
Spirit  quickens  the  dead  soul,  and  works  in  us  "  to  will  and  to 
do  of  his  good  pleasure."  ^  "  The  Father  hath  chosen  us  in 
Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  we  should  be 
holy  and  without  blame  before  him  in  love ;  having  predes- 
tinated us  unto  the  adoption  of  children  by  Jesus  Christ  to 
himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will,  to  the 
praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace,  wherein  he  hath  made  us  ac- 
cepted in  the  Beloved."  ^ 

The  theological  term  Trinity  was  not  in  use  in  the  days  of 
the  apostles,  but  it  does  not  follow  that  the  doctrine  so  desig- 
nated was  then  unknown  ;  for  the  New  Testament  clearly  in- 
dicates that  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  exist  in 
the  unity  of  the  Godhead."  Neither  can  it  be  inferred  from 
the  absence  of  any  fixed  formula  of  doctrine  that  the  early 
followers  of  our  Lord  did  not  all  profess  the  same  sentiments, 
for  they  had  "  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism."  '     The  docu- 

'  Rom.  iii.  26.  "^  Heb.  'x.  12.  ^  i  Cor.  i.  24,  ■•  Phil.  ii.  13. 

^  Eph.  i.  4-6.         "  Matt,  xxviii.  19 ;  John  x.  30,  xv.  26.         '  Eph.  iv.  5. 


1/6  BLESSEDNESS   OF  THE   RIGHTEOUS. 

ment  commonly  called  "  the  Apostles'  Creed  "  is  certainly  of 
very  great  antiquity,  but  no  part  of  it  proceeded  from  those  to 
whom  it  is  attributed  by  its  title  ; '  and  its  rather  bald  and 
dry  detail  of  facts  and  principles  obviously  betokens  a  decline 
from  the  simple  and  earnest  spirit  of  primitive  Christianity. 
Though  the  early  converts,  before  baptism,  made  a  declaration 
of  their  faith,*  there  is  in  the  sacred  volume  no  authorized 
summary  of  doctrinal  belief;  and  in  this  fact  we  have  a  proof 
of  the  far-seeing  wisdom  by  which  the  New  Testament  was 
dictated  ;  as  heresy  is  ever  changing  its  features,  and  a  test 
of  orthodoxy,  suited  to  the  wants  of  one  age,  would  not  ex- 
clude the  errorists  of  another.  It  has  been  left  to  the  exist- 
ing rulers  of  the  Church  to  frame  such  ecclesiastical  symbols 
as  circumstances  require ;  and  they  are  bound  to  search  the 
Scriptures  that  they  may  be  prepared  to  grapple  successfully 
with  errors  as  they  appear. 

It  may  be  added  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostolic  Church 
is  eminently  practical.  The  great  object  of  the  mission  of 
Jesus  was  to  **  save  his  people  from  their  sins "; '  and  the 
tendency  of  all  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament  is  to 
promote  sanctification.  But  the  holiness  of  the  Gospel  is  not 
a  shy  asceticism  which  sits  in  a  cloister  in  moody  melancholy, 
so  that  its  light  never  shines  before  men ;  but  a  generous  con- 
secration of  the  heart  to  God,  which  leads  us  to  confess 
Christ  in  the  presence  of  gainsayers,  and  which  prompts  us  to 
delight  in  works  of  benevolence.  The  true  Christian  should 
be  happy  as  well  as  holy ;  for  the  knowledge  of  the  highest 
truth  is  connected  with  the  purest  enjoyment.  This  "wisdom 
is  better  than  rubies,  and  all  the  things  that  maybe  desired  are 
not  to  be  compared  to  it."*  The  Apostle  Paul,  when  a 
prisoner  at  Rome,  had  comforts  to  which  Nero  was  an  utter 
stranger.  Even  then  he  could  say,  "  I  have  learned  in  what- 
soever state  I  am,  therewith  to  be  content.  I  know  both  how 
to  be  abased,  and  I  know  how  to  abound  ;  everywhere  and  in 
all  things   I    am  instructed  both  to  be  full  and  to  be  hungry 

'  See  Bingham,  iii.  323-327.  *  Acts  viii.  37  ;  i  Pet.  iii.  21. 

*  Matt.  i.  21.  *  Prov.  viii.  11. 


BLESSEDNESS   OF   THE   RIGHTEOUS.  I// 

both  to  abound  and  to  suffer  need.  I  can  do  all  things  through 
Christ  which  strengtheneth  me." '  When  all  around  the  be- 
liever is  dark  and  discouraging,  there  is  sunshine  in  his  soul. 
There  are  no  joys  comparable  to  the  joys  of  a  Christian. 
They  are  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  the  first-fruits  of 
eternal  blessedness ;  they  are  serene  and  heavenly,  solid  and 
satisfying. 

'  Phil.  iv.  11-14. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   HERESIES   OF   THE  APOSTOLIC   AGE. 

The  Greek  word  translated  heresy  ^  in  our  authorized  ver- 
sion of  the  New  Testament,  did  not  primarily  convey  an  un- 
favorable idea.  It  simply  denoted  a  choice  or  preference.  It 
was  often  employed  to  indicate  the  adoption  of  a  particular 
class  of  philosophical  sentiments ;  and  thus  it  came  to  signify 
a  sect  or  doiomination.  Hence  we  find  ancient  writers  speak- 
ing of  the  heresy  of  the  Stoics,  the  heresy  of  the  Epicureans, 
and  the  heresy  of  the  Academics.  The  Jews  who  used  the 
Greek  language  did  not  consider  that  the  word  necessarily 
reflected  on  the  party  it  was  intended  to  describe ;  and  Jose- 
phus,  who  was  himself  a  Pharisee,  accordingly  discourses  of 
the  three  heresies  of  the  Pharisees,  the  Sadducees,  and  the 
Essenes.''  The  Apostle  Paul,  when  speaking  of  his  own  his- 
tory prior  to  his  conversion,  says,  that  "after  the  strictest 
heresy  "  of  his  religion  he  lived  a  Pharisee.*  We  learn,  too, 
from  the  book  of  the  Acts,  that  the  early  Christians  were 
known  as  "  the  heresy  of  the  Nazarenes." "  But  very  soon 
the  word  began  .to  be  employed  to  denote  something  which 
the  Gospel  could  not  sanction ;  and  accordingly,  in  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Galatians,  heresies  are  enumerated  among  the  works 
of  the  ilesh."  It  is  not  difficult  to  explain  why  Christian 
writers  at  an  early  date  were  led  to  attach  such  a  meaning  to 
a  term  which  had  hitherto  been  understood  to  imply  nothing 

'  "  Kifnaiq  autem  GraecC,  ab  electione  dicitur :  qu6cl  scilicet  earn  sibi  unus- 
quisque  eligat  disciplinam,  quam  putat  esse  meliorem." — Hicrotiymus  in 
Epist.  ad  Galat.  c.  5.     See  also  TertuUian,  "  De  Prsescrip."  c.  6. 

"  "  Life,"  §  2  ;  "  Antiq."  xiii.  5,  9.  '  Acts  xxvi.  5. 

*  Acts  xxiv.  5.  '  Gal.  v.  20. 

(17S) 


EARLY   HERETICS.  1/9 

reprehensible.  The  New  Testament  teaches  us  to  regard  an 
erroneous  theology  as  sinful,  and  traces  every  deviation  from 
"  the  one  faith  "  of  the  Gospel  to  the  corruption  of  a  darkened 
intellect.'  It  declares,  *'  He  that  believeth  not  is  condemned 
already^  because  he  hath  not  believed  in  the  name  of  the  only- 
begotten  Son  of  God ;  and  this  is  the  condemnation,  that 
light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  loved  darkness  rather 
than  light,  because  their  deeds  were  evil.''  ^  The  most  ancient 
ecclesiastical  authors  described  all  classes  of  unbelievers,  scep- 
tics, and  innovators,  under  the  general  name  of  heretics.  Per- 
sons who  in  matters  of  religion  made  a  false  choice,  of  what- 
ever kind,  were  viewed  as  "  vainly  puffed  up  by  a  fleshly 
mind,"  or  as  under  the  influence  of  some  species  of  mental 
depravity. 

Heresy,  in  the  first  century,  denoted  every  deviation  from 
the  Christian  faith.  Pagans  and  Jews,  as  well  as  professors 
of  apocryphal  forms  of  the  Gospel,  were  called  heretics.'  But 
in  the  New  Testament  our  attention  is  directed  chiefly  to 
errorists  who  in  some  way  disturbed  the  Church,  and  adulter- 
ated the  doctrine  taught  by  our  Lord  and  His  apostles.  Paul 
refers  to  such  characters  when  he  says,  "  A  man  that  is  an  her- 
etic, after  the  first  and  second  admonition,  reject  ";  *  and  Peter 
also  alludes  to  them  when  he  speaks  of  false  teachers  who 
were  to  appear  and  "  privily  bring  in  damnable  heresies."  ' 

The  earliest  corrupters  of  the  Gospel  were  unquestionably 
those  who  endeavored  to  impose  the  observance  of  the  Mosaic 
law  on  the  converted  Gentiles.  Their  proceedings  were  con- 
demned in  the  Council  of  Jerusalem,  mentioned  in  the  fifteenth 
chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  ;  and  Paul,  in  his  letter  to 
the  Galatians,  subsequently  exposed  their  infatuation.  But 
evangelical  truth  had  more  to  fear  from  dilution  with  the 
speculations  of  the  Jewish  and  pagan  literati.*     The  apostle 

'  Eph.  iv.  17,  18;  Col.  i.  13.  '  John  iii.  18,  19. 

'  Mosheim  has  overlooked  this  fact,  and  has,  in  consequence,  been  be- 
trayed into  some  false  criticism  when  treating  on  this  subject. 

"  Titus  iii.  10.  '  2  Pet.  ii.  i. 

*  Every  one  acquainted  with  the  works  of  Philo  Judseus  is  aware  that 
Jewish  literature  was  now  largely  impregnated  with  pagan  philosophy. 


I80  GNOSTICISM. 

had  this  evil  in  view  when  he  said  to  the  Colossians,  "  Beware, 
lest  any  man  spoil  you  through  philosophy  and  vain  deceit, 
after  the  tradition  of  men,  after  the  rudiments  of  the  worlds 
and  not  after  Christ." '  He  likewise  emphatically  attested 
the  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  it  when  he  addressed  to 
his  own  son  in  the  faith  the  impassioned  admonition,  "  O  Tim- 
othy, keep  that  which  is  committed  to  thy  trust,  avoiding  pro- 
fane and  vain  babblings,  and  oppositions  of  scicjice  falsely  so 
called."  ^ 

There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the ''science  "  or  "  phi- 
losophy "  of  which  Paul  was  so  anxious  that  the  disciples 
.should  beware,  was  the  same  which  was  afterward  so  well 
known  by  the  designation  of  Gnosticism.  The  second  century 
was  the  period  of  its  most  vigorous  development  ;  and  it  then, 
for  a  time,  almost  engrossed  the  attention  of  the  Church  ;  but 
it  was  already  beginning  to  exert  a  pernicious  influence,  and 
it  is  therefore  noticed  by  the  vigilant  apostle.  Whilst  it  ac- 
knowledged, to  a  certain  extent,  the  authority  of  the  Christian 
revelation,  it  also  borrowed  largely  from  Platonism  ;  and,  in  a 
spirit  of  accommodation  to  the  system  of  the  Athenian  sage, 
it  rejected  some  of  the  leading  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  Plato 
never  entertained  the  sublime  conception  of  the  creation  of 
all  things  out  of  nothing  by  the  word  of  the  Most  High.  He 
held  that  matter  is  essentially  evil,  and  that  it  is  contaminat- 
ing.' The  false  teachers  who  disturbed  the  Church  in  the 
apostolic  age  adopted  both  these  views ;  and  the  errors  which 
they  propagated,  and  of  which  the  New  Testament  takes  no- 
tice, flowed  from  their  unsound  philosophy  by  direct  and 
necessary  consequence.  As  a  right  understanding  of  certain 
passages  of  Scripture  depends  on  an  acquaintance  with  their 
system,  it  will  here  be  expedient  to  advert  somewhat  more 
particularly  to  a  few  of  its  pecuhar  features. 

The  Gnostics  alleged  that  the  present  world  owes  neither 
its  origin  nor  its  arrangement  to  the  Supreme  God.  They 
maintained  that  its  constituent  parts  have  been  always  in  ex- 

'  Col.  ii.  8.  '  I  Tim.  vi.  20. 

'  See  Burton's  "  Inquiry  into  the  Heresies  of  the  Apostolic  Age,"  pp.  314, 
315.     Also  Mosheim's  "  Dissertation  "  appended  to  Cudworth,  iii.  171. 


GNOSTICISM.  l8l 

istence  ;  and  that,  as  the  great  Father  of  Lights  would  have 
been  contaminated  by  contact  with  corrupt  matter,  the  visible 
frame  of  things  was  fashioned,  without  His  knowledge,  by  an 
inferior  Intelligence.  These  principles  derogated  from  the 
glory  of  Jehovah.  By  ascribing  to  matter  an  independent  and 
eternal  existence  they  impugned  the  doctrine  of  God's  Omnip- 
otent Sovereignty;  and  by  representing  it  as  regulated  with- 
out His  sanction  by  a  spiritual  agent  of  a  lower  rank,  they 
denied  His  Universal  Providence.  The  apostle,  therefore, 
felt  it  necessary  to  enter  his  protest  against  all  such  cosmogo- 
nies. He  declared  that  Jehovah  alone,  as  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost,  existed  from  eternity  ;  and  that  all  things  spirit- 
ual and  material  arose  out  of  nothing  in  obedience  to  the 
word  of  the  second  person  of  the  Godhead,  "  By  him,"  says 
he,  "  were  all  things  created,  that  are  in  heaven  and  that  are  in 
earth,  visible  and  invisible,  whether  they  be  thrones  or  domin- 
ions or  principalities  or  powers ;  all  things  were  created  by 
him  and  for  him,  and  he  is  before  all  things,  and  by  him 
all  things  consist T  ' 

The  philosophical  system  of  the  Gnostics  also  led  them  to 
adopt  false  views  respecting  the  body  of  Christ.  As,  accord- 
ing to  their  theory,  the  Messiah  came  to  deliver  men  from 
the  bondage  of  evil  matter,  they  could  not  consistently  ac- 
knowledge that  He  himself  inhabited  an  earthly  tabernacle. 
They  refused  to  admit  that  our  Lord  was  born  of  a  human 
parent  ;  and,  as  they  asserted  that  He  had  a  body  only  in  ap- 
pearance, or  that  His  visible  form  as  man  was  in  reality  a 
phantom,  they  were  at  length  known  by  the  title  of  Docetae. 
The  Apostle  John  repeatedly  attests  the  folly  and  the  dan- 
ger of  such  speculations.  "  The  Word,"  says  he,  "  was  made 
flesh  and  dwelt  among  us."  ....  Every  spirit  that  confesseth 
not  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh  is  not  of  God."  .... 
That  which  was  from  the  beginning,  which  we  have  heard, 
which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon, 
and  our  hands  have  handled  of  the  Word  of  Life,  ....  de- 
clare we   unto  you."  ....  Many  deceivers    are   entered   into 

'  Col.  i.  1 6,  17.  '^  From  (Ww,  I  appear. 

'  John  i.  14.  *  I  John  iv.  3.  ="  i  John  i.  1-3. 


1 82  DENIAL   OF   THE   RESURRECTION. 

the  world  who  confess  not  that  j^csus  Christ  is  come  in  the 
flesh." ' 

Reasoning  from  the  prhiciple  that  evil  is  inherent  in  matter, 
the  Gnostics  believed  the  union  of  the  soul  and  the  body  to  be 
a  calamity.  According  to  their  views  the  spiritual  being  can 
never  attain  the  perfection  of  which  he  is  susceptible  so  long 
as  he  remains  connected  with  his  present  corporeal  organiza- 
tion. Hence  they  rejected  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body.  When  Paul  asks  the  Corinthians,  "  How  say  some 
among  you  that  there  is  no  resurrectfon  of  the  dead  ?  " '  he 
alludes  to  the  Gnostic  denial  of  this  article  of  the  Christian 
theology.  He  also  refers  to  the  same  circumstance  when  he 
denounces  the  "profane  and  vain  babblings"  of  those  who 
**  concerning  the  truth  "  had  erred,  "  saying  that  the  resurrec- 
tion is  past  already."  ^  These  heretics  maintained  that  an  in- 
troduction to  their  Gliosis,  or  knowledge,  was  the  only  genuine 
deliverance  from  the  dominion  of  death ;  and  argued  accord- 
ingly that,  in  the  case  of  those  who  had  been  initiated  into  the 
mysteries  of  their  system,  the  resurrection  was  "  past  already." 

The  ancient  Christian  writers  concur  in  stating  that  Simon, 
mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  and  commonly  called 
Simon  Magus,  was  the  father  of  the  sects  of  the  Gnostics.'  He 
was  a  Samaritan  by  birth,  and  after  the  rebuke  he  received 
from  Peter,'  he  is  reported  to  have  withdrawn  from  the  Church 
and  to  have  concocted  a  theology  of  his  own,  into  which  he 
imported  some  elements  borrowed  from  Christianity.  At  a 
subsequent  period  he  travelled  to  Rome,  where  he  attracted 
attention  by  the  novelty  of  his  creed  and  the  boldness  of  his 
pretensions.  Prior  to  his  baptism  by  Philip,  he  "had  used 
sorcery,  and  bewitched  the  people  of  Samaria,  giving  out  that 
himself  was  some  great  one  "; '  and  subsequently  he  pursued 
a  similar  career.  According  to  a  very  early  authority,  nearly 
all  the  inhabitants  of  his  native  country,  and  a  few  persons  in 
other  districts,  worshipped  him  as  the  first  or  supreme  God.' 

'2  John  7.  ''I  Cor.  XV.  12.  »  2  Tim.  ii.  16-18. 

'Acts  viii.  9.  "  Irenaeus,  i.  23  ;  Eusebius,  ii.  13. 
'  Acts  viii.  20-23.                  .  '  Acts  viii.  9. 

•Justin  Martyr,  "  Apol."  ii.  69.  Edit.  Paris,  161 5. 


TENDENCY   OF   GNOSTICISM.  1 83 

There  is,  probably,  some  exaggeration  in  this  statement ;  but 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  he  laid  claim -to  extraordinary- 
powers,  maintaining  that  the  same  spirit  which  had  been  im- 
parted to  Jesus,  had  descended  on  himself.  He  denied  that 
our  Lord  had  a  real  body.  Some,  who  did  not  enroll  them- 
selves under  his  standard,  soon  partially  adopted  his  principles ; 
and  Hymenaeus,  Philetus,  Alexander,  Phygellus,  and  Hermog- 
enes,  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,'  were  all  more  or 
less  tinctured  with  the  spirit  of  Gnosticism.  Other  heresiarchs, 
not  named  in  the  sacred  record,  are  known  to  have  flourished 
toward  the  close  of  the  first  century.  Of  these  the  most 
famous  were  Carpocrates,  Cerinthus,  and  Ebion."  It  is  stated 
that  John's  testimony  to  the  dignity  of  the  Word,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  his  Gospel,  was  designed  as  an  antidote  to  the 
errors  of  Cerinthus.^ 

When  the  Gospel  exerts  its  proper  influence  on  the  charac- 
ter it  produces  an  enlightened,  genial,  and  consistent  piety; 
but  a  false  faith  is  apt  to  lead,  in  practice,  to  one  of  two  ex- 
tremes, either  the  asceticism  of  the  Essene,  or  the  sensualism 
of  the  Sadducee.  Gnosticism  developed  itself  in  both  these 
directions.  Some  of  its  advocates  maintained  that,  as  matter 
is  essentially  evil,  the  corrupt  propensities  of  the  body  should 
be  kept  in  constant  subjection  by  a  life  of  rigorous  mortifica- 
tion ;  others  held  that,  as  the  principle  of  evil  is  inherent  in 
the  corporeal  frame,  the  malady  is  beyond  the  reach  of  cure, 
and  that,  therefore,  the  animal  nature  should  be  permitted 
freely  to  indulge  its  peculiar  appetites.  To  the  latter  party, 
as  some  think,  belonged  the  Nicolaitanes  noticed  by  John  in 
the  Apocalypse.*  They  are  said  to  have  derived  their  name 
from  Nicolas,  one  of  the  seven  deacons  ordained  by  the  apos- 

'  I  Tim.  i.  20;  2  Tim.  i.  15,  ii.  17,  iv.  14. 

*  Irenaeus,  i.  25,  26 ;  Tertullian,  "  De  Praescrip.  Haeret."  33  ;  Epiphanius, 
"  Hasr."  XXX.  2,  Ixix.  23. 

^  Irenaeus,  iii.  11.  The  story  that  John,  on  meeting  Cerinthus  in  a  bath  at 
Ephesus,  fled  out  of  the  place  lest  the  building  should  fall  on  him,  is  a  legend 
unworthy  the  eharacter  of  the  "Son  of  Thunder."  Cerinthus  was  one  of 
the  earliest  millenarians.     See  Euseb.  iii.  28. 

*Rev.  ii.  6,  15. 


1 84  CONDEMNATION   OF   GNOSTICISM. 

ties ; '  and  to  have  been  a  class  of  Gnostics  noted  for  their 
licentiousness.  The  origin  of  the  designation  may  admit  of 
some  dispute ;  but  those  to  whom  it  was  applied  were  alike 
lax  in  principle  and  dissolute  in  practice,  for  the  Spirit  of  God 
has  declared  His  abhorrence  as  well  of  the  ^^  doctrine,"  as  of 
"  the  deeds  of  the  Nicolaitanes."  * 

Though  the  Jews,  in  the  time  of  our  Lord,  were  so  much 
divided  in  sentiment,  and  though  the  Pharisees,  the  Saddu- 
cees,  and  the  Essenes  had  each  their  theological  peculiarities, 
their  sectarianism  did  not  involve  any  complete  severance  or 
separation.  Notwithstanding  their  differences  of  creed,  the 
Pharisees  and  Sadducees  sat  together  in  the  Sanhedrim,'  and 
worshipped  together  in  the  temple.  All  the  seed  of  Abraham 
constituted  one  Church,  and  congregated  in  the  same  sacred 
courts  to  celebrate  the  great  festivals.  In  the  Christian  Church, 
in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  there  was  something  approaching 
to  the  same  outward  unity.  Though,  for  instance,  there  were 
so  many  parties  among  the  Corinthians — though  one  said,  I 
am  of  Paul,  and  another  I  am  of  Apollos,  and  another  I  am  of 
Cephas,  and  another  I  am  of  Christ — all  assembled  in  the  same 
place  to  join  in  the  same  worship,  and  to  partake  of  the  same 
Eucharist.  Those  who  withdrew  from  the  disciples  with  whom 
they  had  been  previously  associated,  generally  relinquished 
altogether  the  profession  of  Christianity.*  Some,  at  least,  of 
the  Gnostics  acted  very  differently.  When  danger  appeared 
they  were  inclined  to  temporize,  and  to  discontinue  their  at- 
tendance on  the  worship  of  the  Church  ;  but  they  were  desir- 
ous to  remain  still  nominally  connected  with  the  great  body  of 
believers.'  Any  form  of  alliance  with  such  errorists  was,  however, 
considered  a  cause  of  scandal ;  and  the  inspired  teachers  of  the 
Gospel  insisted  on  their  exclusion  from  ecclesiastical  fellow- 

'  Acts  vi.  5.  Others  conceive,  however,  that  the  name  Nicolaitanes  is 
equivalent  to  Balaamiles  (as  Balaam  in  Hebrew  is  nearly  equivalent  to  Nicolas 
in  Greek,  each  word  signifying  Ruler,  or  Conqueror  of  the  people),  and  that 
the  apostle  does  not  here  refer  to  any  party  already  known  by  this  designa- 
tion, but  to  all  who,  like  Balaam,  were  seducers  o(  God's  people.  See  Ne- 
ander,  "General  History,"  ii.  159.     Edinburgh  edition,  1847. 

■■' Rev.  ii.  6,  15.  ^Acts  x.xiii.  t,  6. 

M  John  ii.  19.  'Compare  Judc  19,  -I'ld  Hcb.  x.  25. 


THE   GOSPEL  THE   PUREST   WISDOM.  1 85 

ship.  Hence  Paul  declares  that  he  had  delivered  Hymenaeus 
and  Alexander  "  unto  Satan,"  that  they  might  learn  "  not  to 
blaspheme";'  and  John  upbraids  the  Church  in  Pergamos  be- 
cause it  retained  in  its  communion  "  them  that  held  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Nicolaitanes." '  During  the  first  century  the 
Gnostics  seem  to  have  been  unable  to  create  anything  like  a 
schism  among  those  who  had  embraced  Christianity.  Whilst 
the  apostles  lived,  the  "  science,  falsely  so  called,"  could  not 
pretend  to  a  divine  sanction ;  and  though  here  and  there  they 
displayed  considerable  activity  in  the  dissemination  of  their 
principles,  they  were  sternly  and  effectually  discountenanced. 
It  is  accordingly  stated  by  one  of  the  earliest  ecclesiastical 
writers  that,  in  the  time  of  Simeon  of  Jerusalem,  who  finished 
his  career  in  the  beginning  of  the  second  century,  "  they  called 
the  Church  as  yet  a  virgin,  inasmuch  as  it  was  not  yet  corrupted 
by  vain  discourses." '  Other  writers  concur  in  bearing  testi- 
mony to  the  fact  that,  whilst  the  apostles  were  on  earth,  false 
teachers  failed  "to  divide  the  unity  "  of  the  Christian  common- 
wealth, "by  the  introduction  of  corrupt  doctrines."* 

The  Gospel  affords  scope  for  the  healthful  and  vigorous 
exercise  of  the  human  understanding,  and  it  is  itself  the  high- 
est and  purest  wisdom.  It  likewise  supplies  a  test  for  ascer- 
taining the  state  of  the  heart.  Those  who  receive  it  with  faith 
unfeigned  will  delight  to  meditate  on  its  wonderful  discover- 
ies ;  but  those  who  are  unrenewed  in  the  spirit  of  their  minds 
will  render  to  it  only  a  doubtful  submission,  and  will  pervert  its 
plainest  announcements.  The  apostle  therefore  says,  "There 
must  be  also  heresies  among  you,  that  they  which  are  approved 
may  be  made  manifest  among  you."  ^  The  heretic  is  made 
manifest  alike  by  his  deviations  from  the  doctrines  and  the 
precepts  of  revelation.     His  creed  does  not  exhibit  the  con- 

>  I  Tim.  i.  20.  ''Rev.  ii.  15. 

'^  Hegesippus  in  Euseb.  iv.  22.  *  Eusebius,  iv.  22. 

^i  Cor.  xi.  19.  Augustine,  after  quoting  this  text,  adds:  "There  are 
many  things  pertaining  to  the  catholic  faith  which,  that  we  may  defend 
against  the  heretics  who  are  restlessly  and  furiously  discussing  them,  are  at 
once  studied  more  diligently,  understood  more  clearly,  and  preached  more 
zealously." — Ct/j  of  Cod,  xvi.  2. 


1 86  THE   GOSPEL   THE   PUREST  WISDOM. 

sistency  of  truth,  and  his  life  fails  to  display  the  beauty  of 
holiness.  Bible  Christianity  is  neither  superstitious  nor  scepti- 
cal, neither  austere  nor  sensual.  "  The  wisdom  that  is  from 
above  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable,  gentle,  and  easy  to  be  en- 
treated, full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits  without  partiality  and 
without  hypocrisy."  * 

'James  iii.  17. 


SECTION  III. 


THE  WORSHIP  AND  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC 
CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  lord's  day — THE  WORSHIP  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  CHURCH 
— ITS  SYMBOLIC  ORDINANCES  AND  ITS  DISCIPLINE. 

To  the  primitive  disciples  the  day  on  which  our  Lord  rose 
from  the  grave  was  a  crisis  of  intense  excitement.  The  cru- 
cifixion had  cast  a  dismal  cloud  over  their  prospects ;  for,  im- 
mediately before,  when  Jesus  entered  Jerusalem  amidst  the 
hosannas  of  the  multitude,  they  probably  anticipated  the  es- 
tablishment of  His  sovereignty  as  the  Messiah  :  yet,  when 
His  body  was  committed  to  the  tomb,  they  did  not  at  once 
sink  into  despair  ;  and,  though  filled  with  anxiety,  they  vent- 
ured to  indulge  a  hope  that  the  third  day  after  His  demise 
would  be  signalized  by  some  new  revelation.'  The  report  of 
those  who  were  early  at  the  sepulchre  at  first  inspired  the  res- 
idue of  the  disciples  with  wonder  and  perplexity  ;  ^  but,  as  the 
proofs  of  His  resurrection  multiplied,  they  became  confident 
and  joyful.  Ever  afterward  the  first  day  of  the  week  was 
observed  by  them  as  the  season  of  holy  convocation."  Those 
members  of  the  Apostolic  Church  who  had  been  originally 
Jews,  continued  for  some  time  to  meet  together  also  on  the 
Saturday  ;  but  what  was  called  "  The  Lord's  Day,"  *  was  re- 
garded by  all  as  sacred  to  Christ. 

'  Luke  xxiv.  21.  ''  Luke  xxiv,  17,  22,  23.  '  Acts  xx.  7. 

*  Rev.  i,  10,  f/  KvpLaKTi  Tjjiepa.  The  day  was  ever  afterward  distinguished 
by  this  designation.     See  a  letter  from  Dionysius  of  Corinth  in  Eusebius, 

(187) 


I  88  TPIE   SABBATH. 

It  has  often  been  asserted  that,  during  His  own  ministry, 
our  Saviour  encouraged  His  disciples  to  violate  the  Sabbath, 
and  thus  prepared  the  way  for  its  abolition.  But  this  theory 
is  as  destitute  of  foundation  as  it  is  dangerous  to  morality. 
Even  the  ceremonial  law  continued  binding  till  Jesus  expired 
upon  the  cross  ;  and  He  felt  it  to  be  His  duty  to  attend  to  every 
jot  and  tittle  of  its  appointments.'  Thus  it  became  Him  "  to 
fulfil  all  righteousness." '  He  is  at  pains  to  show  that  the  acts 
of  which  the  Pharisees  complained  as  breaches  of  the  Sab- 
bath could  be  vindicated  by  Old  Testament  authority;'  and 
that  these  formalists  "  condemned  the  guiltless^' '  when  they 
denounced  the  disciples  as  doing  that  which  was  unlawful. 
Jesus  never  transgressed  either  the  letter  or  the  spirit  of  any 
commandment  pertaining  to  the  holy  rest ;  but  superstition 
had  added  to  the  written  law  a  multitude  of  minute  observ- 
ances ;  and  every  Israelite  was  at  perfect  liberty  to  neglect 
any  or  all  of  these  frivolous  regulations. 

The  Great  Teacher  never  intimated  that  the  Sabbath  was  a 
ceremonial  ordinance  to  cease  with  the  Mosaic  ritual.  ^  It  was 
instituted  when  our  first  parents  were  in  Paradise  ;  ^  and  the 
precept  enjoining  its  remembrance,  being  a  portion  of  the 
Decalogue,'  is  of  perpetual  obligation.  Hence,  instead  of  re- 
garding it  as  a  merely  Jewish  institution,  Christ  declares  that 
it  "  was  made  for  MAN,"  '  or,  in  other  words,  that  it  was  de- 
signed for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  human  family.  Instead  of 
anticipating  its  extinction  along  with  the  ceremonial  law,  He 
speaks  of  its  existence  after  the  downfall  of  Jerusalem.  When 
He  announces  the  calamities  connected  with  the  ruin  of  the 
holy  city.  He  instructs  His  followers  to  pray  that  the  urgency 
of  the  catastrophe  may  not  deprive  them  of  the  comfort  of  the 
ordinances  of  the  sacred  rest.     "  Pray  ye,"  said  he,  "  that  your 

iv.  23.  See  also  Kaye's  "  Clement  of  Alexandria,"  p,  418.  The  first  day  of 
the  week  is  called  "the  Christian  Sabbath  "  in  the  Ethinpic  version  of  the 
"  Apostolical  Constitutions."  See  Piatt's  "  Didascalia,"  p.  99.  But  these 
Constitutions  are  of  comparatively  late  origin, 

'  Matt.  V.  17-19.  5  Matt.  iii.  15. 

'  Matt.  xii.  3-5  ;  Mark  ii.  25,  26.  *  Matt.  xii.  7. 

•  Gen.  ii.  3.  •  Exod.  xx.  1-17.  '  Mark  ii.  27. 


THE   lord's   day.  1 89 

flight  be  not  in  the  winter,  neither  on  the  Sabbath-day."  '  And 
the  prophet  Isaiah,  when  describing  the  ingathering  of  the 
Gentiles  and  the  glory  of  the  Church  in  the  times  of  the  Gos- 
pel, mentions  the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath  as  characteristic  of 
the  children  of  God.  "  The  sons  of  the  stranger,"  says  he, 
"  that  join  themselves  to  the  Lord  to  serve  him,  and  to  love 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  to  be  his  servants,  every  one  that  keep- 
eth  the  Sabbath  from  polluting  it,  and  taketh  hold  of  my  cov- 
enant— even  them  will  I  bring  to  my  holy  mountain,  and 
make  them  joyful  in  my  house  of  prayer ;  their  burnt-offer- 
ings and  their  sacrifices  shall  be  accepted  upon  mine  altar  :^ 
for  mine  house  shall  be  called  an  house  of  prayer  for  all 
peopled ' 

But  when  Jesus  declared  that  "  the  Son  of  Man  is  Lord  also 
of  the  Sabbath,"^  He  unquestionably  asserted  His  right  to 
alter  the  circumstantials  of  its  observance.  He  accordingly 
abolished  its  ceremonial  worship,  gave  it  a  new  name,  and 
changed  the  day  of  its  celebration.  He  signalized  the  first 
day  of  the  week  by  then  appearing  once  and  again  to  His  dis- 
ciples after  His  resurrection,*  and  by  that  Pentecostal  outpour- 
ing of  the  Spirit  °  which  marks  the  commencement  of  a  new 
era  in   the  history  of  redemption.     As  the  Lord's  day  was 

'  Matt.  xxiv.  20.  2  See  Heb.  xiii.  10,  15,  16  ;  Ps.  li.  17. 

*  Isa.  Ivi.  6,  7.     Compare  with  Isa.  ii.  2.  *  Mark  ii.  28. 

■*  John  XX.  19,  26.  According  to  the  current  style  of  speaking,  "  after 
eight  days  "  means  iAe  eighth  day  after.     See  Matt,  xxvii.  63. 

°  Acts  ii.  I.  That  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  the  first  day  of  the  week 
appears  from  Lev.  xxiii.  11,  15.  The  same  inference  may  be  drawn  from 
John  xviii.  28,  and  xix.  31,  compared  with  Lev.  xxiii.  5,  6.  See  also  SchafT's 
"  History  of  the  Apostolic  Church,"  i.  p.  230,  note,  and  the  authorities  there 
quoted.  "  The  day  of  Pentecost,  on  whatever  day  of  the  week  it  fell,  was 
a  Sabbath,  Lev.  xxiii.  21.  So  here,  on  the  very  day  of  the  commemoration 
or  the  promulgation  of  the  old  law,  we  have  also  the  promulgation  of  the 
new,  which  v^'e  may  consider  as  the  virtual  repeal  of  the  temporary  part  of 
the  old — as  the  substitution  of  the  new  for  the  old  dispensation — here,  on 
this  very  day,  we  have  the  Lord's  Day  and  the  Sabbath  combined  togeth- 
er." "  Scripture  Account  of  the  Sabbath,"  by  Archdeacon  Stopford,  p. 
220.     London,  1837. 


IQO  THE   LORD  S   DAY. 

consecrated  to  the  Lord's  service/  the  disciples  did  not  now 
neglect  the  assembling  of  themselves  together  ;"  and  the  apos- 
tle commanded  them  at  this  holy  season  to  set  apart  a  portion 
of  their  gains  for  religious  purposes.'  It  was  most  fitting  that 
the  first  day  of  the  week  should  be  thus  distinguished  under 
the  new  economy  ;  for  the  deliverance  of  the  Church  is  a 
more  illustrious  achievement  than  the  formation  of  the  world  ;* 
and  as  the  primeval  Sabbath  commemorated  the  rest  of  the 
Creator,  the  Christian  Sabbath  reminds  us  of  the  completion 
of  the  work  of  the  Redeemer.  "  There  remaineth,  therefore, 
the  keeping  of  a  Sabbath  '  to  the  people  of  God,  for  he  that 
is  entered  into  his  rest,  he  also  hath  ceased  from  his  own 
works,  as  God  did  from  his."  ° 

As  many  of  the  converts  from  Judaism  urged  the  circum- 
cision of  their  Gentile  brethren,  they  were  likewise  disposed 
to  insist  on  their  observance  of  the  Hebrew  festivals.  The 
apostles,  at  least  for  a  considerable  time,  did  not  deem  it  ex- 
pedient positively  to  forbid  the  keeping  of  such  days  ;  but 
they  required  that,  in  matters  of  this  nature,  every  one  should 
be  left  to  his  own  discretion.  "One  man,"  says  Paul,  "  es- 
teemeth  one  day  above  another;  another  esteemeth  every 
day  alike.  Let  every  man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own 
mind."'  The  Lord's  day  is  not  included  in  this  compromise; 
for  from  the  morning  of  the  resurrection  there  was  no  dispute 
as  to  its  claims,  and  its  very  title  attests  the  general  recogni- 
tion of  its  authority.  The  apostle  can  refer  only  to  days 
which  were  typical  and  ceremonial.  Hence  he  says  elsewhere, 
"  Let  no  man  judge  you   in  meat,  or  in  drink,  or  in   respect 

'  In  the  same  way  the  Eucharist  is  called  the  Lord's  Supper :  KvpioK^ 
6fiKvni'  (i  Cor.  xi.  20).  Thus  also  we  speak  of  the  Lord's  house  and  the 
Lord's  people. 

»  Heb.  X.  25.  ^  I  Cor.  xvi.  i,  2.  *  Isa.  Ixv.  17,  18. 

*  lafifiaTta/dg.     See  Owen  "  On  the  Hebrews,"  iv.  9. 

•  Heb.  iv.  9,  10.  "  As  that  rest,  which  all  the  world  was  to  observe,  was 
founded  in  the  works  and  rest  of  Him  who  built  or  made  the  world,  and  all 
things  in  it;  so  the  rest  of  the  Church  of  the  Gospel  is  to  be  founded  in  the 
works  and  rest  of  Him  by  whom  the  Church  itself  was  built,  that  is,  Jesus 
Christ." — Given. 

'  Rom.  xiv.  5. 


WORSHIP   OF  THE   APOSTOLIC   CHURCH.  I91 

of  an  holyday,  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the  Sabbath  days — 
which  are  a  shadow  of  things  to  come,  but  the  body  is  of  Christ!'  * 

Though  the  New  Testament  furnishes  no  full  and  circum- 
stantial description  of  the  worship  of  the  Christian  Church,  it 
makes  such  incidental  allusions  to  its  various  parts  as  enable 
us  to  form  a  pretty  accurate  idea  of  its  general  character. 
Like  the  worship  of  the  synagogue,'^  it  consisted  of  prayer, 
praise,  reading  the  Scriptures,  and  expounding  or  preaching. 
Those  who  joined  the  Church,  for  several  years  after  it  was 
first  organized,  were  almost  exclusively  converts  from  Juda- 
ism, and  when  they  embraced  the  Christian  faith,  they  retained 
the  order  of  religious  service  to  which  they  had  been  hitherto 
accustomed ;  but  by  the  recognition  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
Messiah  of  whom  the  law  and  the  prophets  testified,  their  old 
forms  were  inspired  with  new  life  and  significance.  At  first 
the  heathen  did  not  challenge  the  distinction  between  the 
worship  of  the  synagogue  and  the  Church ;  and  thus  it  was, 
as  has  already  been  intimated,  that  for  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  first  century,  the  Christians  and  the  Jews  were  frequently 
confounded. 

It  has  often  been  asserted  that  the  Jews  had  a  liturgy  when 
our  Lord  ministered  in  their  synagogues;  but  the  proof  ad- 
duced in  support  of  this  statement  is  far  from  satisfactory; 
and  their  prayers,  which  are  still  extant,  and  which  are  said  to 
have  been  then  in  use,  must  obviously  have  been  written  after 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem."    It  is,  however,  certain  that  the 

»  Col.  ii.  16,  17. 

2  The  ordinary  temple  service  was  peculiar.  It  was,  to  a  great  extent, 
ceremonial  and  typical,  consisting  largely  of  sacrificing,  burning  incense, 
and  offering  various  oblations.  The  worshippers  often  prayed  apart.  See 
Luke  i.  10,  xviii.  10,  11.  But  all  the  ordinances  of  the  temple — such  as  the 
reading  of  the  law — were  not  ceremonial. 

^  See  these  eighteen  prayers  in  Prideaux's  "  Connexions,"  i.  375,  and  note. 
Bingham  admits  (Grig.  iv.  194)  that  these  words  were  their  "  most  ancient " 
forms  of  devotion  ;  and,  of  course,  if  they  were  written  after  the  fall  of  Jeru- 
salem, it  follows  that  the  Jews  had  no  liturgy  in  the  days  of  our  Lord.  Had 
they  then  been  limited  to  fixed  forms.  He  would  scarcely  have  upbraided 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  for  hypocritically  "making  long  prayer."  Matt, 
xxiii.  14. 


192  PRAYER. 

Christians  in  the  apostolic  age  were  not  restricted  to  any  par- 
ticular forms  of  devotion.  The  liturgies  ascribed  to  Mark, 
James,  and  others,  are  unquestionably  the  fabrications  of  later 
times ;'  and  had  any  of  the  inspired  teachers  of  the  Gospel 
composed  a  book  of  common  prayer,  it  would  have  been  re- 
ceived into  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament.  Our  Lord 
taught  His  disciples  to  pray,  and  supplied  them  with  a  model 
to  guide  them  in  their  devotional  exercises  f  but  there  is  no 
evidence  whatever  that,  in  their  stated  services,  they  constantly 
employed  the  language  of  that  beautiful  and  comprehensive 
formulary.  The  very  idea  of  a  liturgy  was  altogether  alien  to 
the  spirit  of  the  primitive  believers.  They  were  commanded 
to  give  thanks  "  in  everything," '  to  pray  "  always  wii/z  all 
prayer  and  supplication  in  the  spirit,"^  and  to  watch  thereunto 
"  with  all  perseverance  and  supplication  for  all  saints  "/ '  and 
had  they  been  limited  to  a  form,  they  would  have  found  it 
impossible  to  comply  with  these  admonitions.  '  Their  prayers 
were  dictated  by  the  occasion,  and  varied  according  to  pass- 
ing circumstances.  Some  of  them  which  have  been  recorded,' 
had  a  special  reference  to  the  occurrences  of  the  day,  and 
could  not  have  well  admitted  of  repetition.  In  the  apostolic 
age,  when  the  Spirit  was  poured  out  in  such  rich  effusion  on  the 
Church,  the  gift,  as  well  as  the  grace,  of  prayer  was  imparted 
abundantly,  so  that  a  liturgy  would  have  been  superfluous,  if 
not  directly  calculated  to  freeze  the  genial  current  of  devo- 
tion. 

Singing,  in  which — as  some  contend — none  but  Levites 
were  permitted  to  unite, ^  and  which  was  accompanied  by  in- 
strumental music,  constituted,  at  least  from  the  days  of  David, 
a  part  of  the  ritual  of  Jewish  worship.  The  singers  occupied 
an  elevated  platform  adjoining  the  court  of  the  priests;*  and 
the  sounds  of  cymbals,  psalteries,  and  harps,  mingled  with 

'  See  Palmer's  "  Origines  Liturgicas,"  i.  pp.  44-92  ;  and  Clarkson's  "Dis- 
course concerning  Liturgies  ";  "  Select  Works,"  p.  342. 
«  Matt.  vi.  9-13.  M  Thess.  v.  18.  *  Eph.  vi.  18. 

•  Eph.  vi.  18.  •  Acts  i.  24,  25,  iv.  24-30. 

''  See  Lightfoot's  '•'  Temple  Service,"  ch.  vii.,  sec.  i,  "  Works,"  ix.  56. 

•  Lightfoot's  "Prospect  of  the  Temple,"  ch.  xxxiiii.,  "  Works,"  ix.  384. 


THE   SCRIPTURES   AND   THE   GIFT   OF   TONGUES.         I93 

their  well-trained  voices,  must  have  exercised  a  thrilling  influ- 
ence,' But  the  early  Christians — constantly  depressed  by  per- 
secution, and  often  obliged  to  hold  their  religious  assemblies 
in  some  secluded  spot  at  dead  of  night — could  not  think  of  at- 
tempting to  emulate  such  a  magnificent  service  of  praise. 
These  were  the  days  of  darkness,  predicted  by  the  Great 
Bridegroom,''  when  they  were  to  fast  and  mourn,  and  when 
they  could  make  no  provision  for  the  embellishments  of  artis- 
tic melody.  It  is  not,  therefore,  strange  that  instrumental 
music  was  not  heard  in  their  congregational  services. 

The  Jews  divided  the  Pentateuch  and  the  writings  of  the 
Prophets  into  sections,  one  of  which  was  read  every  Sabbath 
in  the  synagogue ;  ^  and  thus,  in  the  place  set  apart  to  the  serv- 
ice of  the  God  of  Israel,  His  own  will  was  constantly  pro- 
claimed. The  Christians  bestowed  equal  honor  on  the  holy 
oracles ;  for  in  their  solemn  assemblies,  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  formed  part  of  their 
stated  worship.'  At  the  close  of  this  exercise,  one  or  more  of 
the  elders  edified  the  congregation,  either  by  giving  a  general 
exposition  of  the  passage  read,  or  by  insisting  particularly  on 
some  point  of  doctrine  or  duty  which  it  obviously  inculcated. 
If  a  prophet  was  present,  he,  too,  had  an  opportunity  of  ad- 
dressing the  auditory.^ 

As  apostolic  Christianity  aimed  to  impart  light  to  the  un- 
derstanding, its  worship  was  uniformly  conducted  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  people.  It,  indeed,  attested  its  divine  origin  by 
miracles,  and  it  accordingly  enabled  some  to  speak  in  tongues 
in  which  they  had  never  been  instructed  ;  but  it  permitted 
such  individuals  to  exercise  their  gifts  in  the  church,  only  when 
interpreters  were  present  to  translate  their  communications." 

'  The  Rabbins  report  that  the  sound  of  the  temple  service  could  be  heard 
at  Jericho  ;  but  this  is  obviously  an  absurd  exaggeration. 

'^  Mark  ii.  20.  »  Luke  iv.  16,  17.  "  Col.  iv,  16 ;  i  Thess.  v.  27. 

*  I  Cor.  xiv.  29.  Only  two  or  three  persons  were  permitted  to  speak  at  a 
meeting.  By  him  that"sitteth  by"  (verse  30),  a  doctor  or  teacher  is 
meant.     See  Vitringa,  "  De  Synagoga,"  p.  600,  and  Matt.  v.  i. 

'  I  Cor.  xiv.  27.  The  gift  of"  interpretation  of  tongues"  (i  Cor.  xii.  10) 
was  quite  as  wonderful  as  the  gift  of  "divers  kinds  of  tongues  "  (i  Cor. 
xii.  10). 

13 


194  INFANT   BAPTISM. 

Whilst  the  gift  of  tongues,  possessed  by  so  many  of  the 
primitive  disciples,  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Gentile 
as  well  as  of  the  Jewish  literati,  it  also  made  a  powerful 
impression  on  the  popular  mind,  especially  in  large  cities ;  for 
in  such  places  there  were  always  foreigners  to  whom  these 
strange  utterances  were  perfectly  intelligible,  and  for  whom 
a  discourse  delivered  in  the  speech  of  their  native  country  had 
peculiar  charms.  But  in  the  worship  of  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians, the  arrangements  were  of  the  most  simple  character.  In 
their  depressed  condition,  they  often  conducted  their  services 
under  circumstances  of  extreme  discomfort.  For  the  whole 
of  the  first  century  they  celebrated  their  religious  ordinances 
in  private  houses,'  and  their  ministers  officiated  in  their  ordi- 
nary costume.  John,  the  forerunner  of  our  Saviour,  "  had  his 
raiment  of  camel's  hair,  and  a  leathern  girdle  about  his  loins  ";' 
but  perhaps  few  of  the  early  Christian  preachers  were  arrayed 
in  such  coarse  canonicals. 

The  Founder  of  the  Christian  religion  instituted  only  two 
symbolic  ordinances — Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.'  It  is 
universally  admitted  that,  in  the  apostolic  age,  baptism  was 
dispensed  to  all  who  embraced  the  Gospel ;  but  it  has  been 
much  disputed  whether  it  was  also  administered  to  the  infant 
children  of  the  converts.  The  testimony  of  Scripture  on  the 
subject  is  not  very  explicit,  for,  as  the  ordinance  was  in  com- 
mon use  among  the  Jews,*  a  minute  description  of  its  mode 
and  subjects  was  deemed  unnecessary  by  the  apostles  and 
evangelists.  When  an  adult  heathen  was  received  into  the 
Church  of  Israel,  it  is  well  known   that  the  little  children  of 

'  I  Cor.  xvi.  19;  Col.  iv.  15;  Philem.  2.  "  Matt.  iii.  4. 

^  The  rite  of  confirmation,  as  now  practiced,  has  no  sanction  in  the  New 
Testament.  The  "  baptisms  "  and  "  laying  on  of  hands,"  mentioned  Heb. 
vi.  2,  are  obviously  the  "divers  washings"  of  the  Jews,  and  the  imposition  of 
hands  ott  the  heads  of  victims.  The  laying  on  of  the  apostles'  hands  con- 
ferred miraculous  gifts.  Had  the  apostle  referred  to  Christian  baptism  in 
Heb.  vi.  2,  he  would  have  used  the  singular  number. 

^  Lightfoot  affirms  that  the  use  of  baptism  among  the  Israelites  was  as 
ancient  as  the  days  of  Jacob.  He  appeals  in  support  of  this  view  to  Gen 
XXXV.  2.     "  Works,"  iv.  278. 


INFANT   BAPTISM.  I95 

the  proselyte  were  admitted  along  with  him  ; '  and  as  the 
Christian  Scriptures  noxvhcre  forbid  the  dispensation  of  the 
rite  to  infants,  it  may  be  presumed  that  the  same  practice  was 
observed  by  the  primitive  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  This  in- 
ference is  emphatically  corroborated  by  the  fact  that,  of  the 
comparatively  small  number  of  passages  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment which  treat  of  its  administration,  no  less  than  five  refer 
to  the  baptism  of  whole  households."  These  five  cases  are  not 
mentioned  as  rare  or  peculiar,  but  as  ordinary  specimens  of 
the  niethod  of  apostolic  procedure.  It  is  not,  indeed,  abso- 
lutely certain  that  there  was  an  infant  in  any  of  these  five 
households ;  but  it  is,  unquestionably,  much  more  probable 
that  they  contained  a  fair  proportion  of  little  children,  than 
that  every  individual  in  each  of  them  had  arrived  at  years  of 
maturity,  and  that  all  these  adults,  without  exception,  at  once 
participated  in  the  faith  of  the  head  of  the  family,  and  became 
candidates  for  baptism. 

In  the  New  Testament  faith  is  represented  as  the  grand 
qualification  for  baptism  ; '  but  this  principle  obviously  applies 
only  to  all  who  are  capable  of  believing;  for,  in  the  Word  of 
God,  faith  is  also  represented  as  necessary  to  salvation,*  and 
yet  it  is  generally  conceded  that  little  children  may  be  saved. 
Under  the  Jewish  dispensation  infants  were  circumcised,  and 
were  thus  recognized  as  interested  in  the  divine  favor,  so  that, 
if  they  be  excluded  from  the  rite  of  baptism,  it  follows  that 
they  occupy  a  worse  position  under  a  milder  and  more  glorious 
economy.  But  the  New  Testament  forbids  us  to  adopt  such 
an  inference.  It  declares  that  infants  should  be  "  suffered  to 
come  "  to  the  Saviour  ; '  it  indicates  that  baptism  supplies  the 
place  of  circumcision,  for  it  connects  the  Gospel  institution 

'  Lightfoot's  "Works,"  iv.  409,  410.     Edit.  London,  1822. 

^  Acts  X.  2,  44-48,  xvi.  15,  33,  xviii.  8  ;  I  Cor.  i.  16. 

'  Acts  viii.  37.  *  Mark  xvi.  16 ;  John  iii.  18. 

^Matt.  xix.  14;  Luke  xviii.  15.  In  the  New  Testament  children  are  de- 
scribed as  uniting  with  their  Christian  parents  in  prayer  (Acts  xxi.  5). 
Were  not  these  children  baptized  ?  They  were,  no  doubt,  brought  up  "  in 
the  tmrture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord  "  (Eph.  vi.  4). 


196  MODE   OF   BAPTISM. 

with  "the  circumcision  of  Christ";'  it  speaks  of  children  as 
"  saints,"  and  as  "  in  the  Lord," '  and,  therefore,  as  having  re- 
ceived some  visible  token  of  Church  membership ;  and  it  as- 
sures them  that  their  sins  are  forgiven  them  "  for  His  name's 
sake." '  The  New  Testament  does  not  record  a  single  case  in 
which  the  offspring  of  Christian  parents  were  admitted  to  bap- 
tism on  arriving  at  years  of  intelligence ;  but  it  tells  of  the 
apostles  exhorting  the  men  of  Judea  to  repent  and  to  submit 
to  the  ordinance,  inasmuch  as  it  was  a  privilege  proffered  to 
them  and  to  their  children!'  Nay,  more,  Paul  plainly  teaches 
that  the  seed  of  the  righteous  are  entitled  to  the  recognition 
of  saintship,  and  that,  even  when  only  one  of  the  parents  is  a 
Christian,  the  offspring  do  not  on  that  account  forfeit  their  ec- 
clesiastical inheritance.  "  The  unbelieving  husband,"  says  he, 
"  is  sanctified  by  the  wife,  and  the  unbelieving  wife  is  sancti- 
fied by  the  husband,  else  were  your  children  unclean,  but  noiv 
are  they  holyT  *  This  passage  demonstrates  that  the  Apostolic 
Church  recognized  the  holiness  of  infants,  or,  in  other  words, 
that  it  admitted  them  to  baptism. 

The  Scriptures  furnish  no  very  specific  instructions  as  to  the 
mode  of  baptism,  and,  in  its  administration,  the  primitive 
heralds  of  the  Gospel  did  not  adhere  to  a  system  of  rigid  uni- 
formity." Some  have  asserted  that  the  Greek  word  translated 
baptise,''  in  our  authorized  version,  always  signifies  immerse, 
but  it  has  been  clearly  shown  *  that  this  statement  is  inaccu- 

'  Col.  ii.  II,  12,  13.  '  Col.  i.  2,  iii.  20;  Eph.  vi.  i,  4. 

•i  John  ii.  12.  *Acts  ii.  38,  39. 

*  I  Cor.  vii,  14.  The  absurdity  of  the  interpretation  according  to  which 
holy  is  here  made  to  signify  te_e;itimate,  is  well  exposed  by  Dr.  Wilson  in 
his  treatise  on  "  Infant  Baptism,"  p.  513.  London,  1848.  Such  passages 
as  Levit.  xxl.  7-9,  and  xxii.  11,  12,  illustrate  the  meaning  of  the  words 
quoted  in  the  text, 

'This  would,  indeed,  have  been  almost,  if  not  altogether,  impossible. 
They  would  act  differently  at  the  river  Jordan  and  in  such  a  place  as 
the  jail  at  Philippi.  '  Ba^rWC'.'. 

"  Dr.  Wilson  has  demonstrated  the  incorrectness  of  Dr.  Carson's  state- 
ments on  this  subject.  See  his  "  Infant  Baptism,"  p.  96.  If,  as  some  think, 
when  the  apostle  speaks  of  those  "  baptized  for  the  dead  "  (l  Cor.  xv.  29), 
he  refers  to  those  defiled  by  coming  in  contact  with  a  dead  body  or  a  grave 
(see  lumbers  xiv.),  and  sprinkled,  in  order  to  purification,  with  the  ashes 
of  the  red  heifer,  he  makes  sprinkling  to  be  a  form  of  baptism. 


THE   lord's   supper.  I97 

rate,  and  that  baptism  does  not  necessarily  imply  dipping.  In 
ancient  times,  and  in  the  lands  where  the  apostles  labored, 
bathing  was  as  frequently  performed  hy  affusion  as  immersion,' 
and  the  apostles  varied  their  method  of  baptizing  according  to 
circumstances."  The  ordinance  was  intended  to  convey  the 
idea  of  washing  or  purifying,  and  it  is  obvious  that  water  may 
be  applied,  in  many  ways,  as  the  means  of  ablution.  In  the 
sacred  volume  sprinkling  is  often  spoken  of  as  equivalent  to 
washing^ 

As  baptism  was  designed  to  supersede  the  Jewish  circum- 
cision, the  Lord's  Supper  was  intended  to  occupy  the  place  of 
the  Jewish  Passover.*  The  Paschal  lamb  could  be  sacrificed 
nowhere  except  in  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  Passover 
was  kept  only  once  a  year  ;  but  the  Eucharist  could  be  dis- 
pensed wherever  a  Christian  congregation  was  collected  ;  and  at 
this  period  it  seems  to  have  been  often  observed  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  at  least  by  the  more  zealous  and  devout  wor- 
shippers.^ The  wine,  as  well  as  the  other  element,  was  given 
to  all  who  joined  in  its  celebration  ;  and  the  title  of  the  "  Break- 
ing of  Bread^' '  one  of  the  names  by  which  the  ordinance  was 
originally  distinguished,  supplies  evidence  that  the  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation  was  utterly  unknown.  The  word  Sacra- 
ment, as  applied  to  Baptism  and  the  Holy  Supper,  was  not  in 
use  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  and  the  subsequent  introduc- 

'  Wilson's  "Infant  Baptism,"  p.  157.  In  Titus  iii.  5,  6,  there  is  some- 
thing like  a  reference  to  this  mode  of  baptism  :  "  The  washing  of  regenera- 
tion and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  he  shed  (or  poured  out)  on  us 
abundantly."  Ob  h^kxeev  k(f  r/fiag  ■kTiovoluq.  Many  of  the  ancient  baths  were 
adapted  only  for  affusion.  The  "  Baptisterium  is  not  a  bath  sufficiently 
large  to  immerse  the  whole  body,  but  a  vessel  or  labrum  containing  cold 
water  for  pouring  on  the  head." — Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman 
Antiquities.  Art.  Baths.  The  name  of  this  vessel  demonstrates  that,  in 
ancient  times,  baptizing  did  not  necessarily  imply  dipping  or  immersion. 
See,  also,  Muir's  "Life  of  Mahomet,"  iv.  261. 

■^  In  some  cases,  as  at  Jerusalem  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  they  had  not 
the  means  of  immersing  their  converts.  See  also  Acts  x.  47.  The  text, 
John  iii.  23,  indicates  the  difficulty  of  baptizing  by  dipping. 

^  Isa.  Hi.  15  :  Ezek.  xxxvi.  25  ;  i  Pet.  i.  2  ;  fieb.  ix.  10,  21,  22 ;  Rev.  i.  5. 

*  I  Cor.  V.  7,  8.  ^  Acts  xx.  7.  *  Acts  xx.  7  ;  i  Cor.  x.  16. 


iqS  the  lord's  supper. 

tion  of  a  new  nomenclature/  contributed  to  throw  an  air  of 
mystery  around  these  institutions.  The  primitive  disciples 
considered  the  elements  employed  in  them  simply  as  signs  and 
seals  of  spiritual  blessings  ;  and  they  had  no  more  idea  of  re- 
garding the  bread  in  the  Eucharist  as  the  real  body  of  our 
Saviour,  than  they  had  of  believing  that  the  water  of  baptism 
is  the  very  blood  in  which  He  washed  His  people  from  their 
sins.  They  knew  that  they  enjoyed  the  light  of  His  counte- 
nance* in  prayer,  in  meditation,  and  in  the  hearing  of  His 
Word,  and  that  He  was  only  spiritually  present  in  these  sym- 
bolic ordinances. 

Whilst,  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  believers  hold  fellowship  with 
Christ,  they  also  maintain  and  exhibit  their  communion  with 
each  other.  "  We,  being  many,"  says  Paul,  "  are  one  bread 
and  one  body,  for  we  are  all  partakers  of  that  one  bread."  * 
Those  who  joined  together  in  the  observance  of  this  holy  in- 
stitution were  thereby  pledged  to  mutual  love  ;  but  every  one 
who  acted  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  reproach  upon  the  Chris- 
tian name,  was  no  longer  admitted  to  the  sacred  table.  Paul 
refers  to  exclusion  from  this  ordinance,  as  well  as  from  inti- 
mate civil  intercourse,  when  he  says  to  the  Corinthians,  "  I 
have  written  unto  you  not  to  keep  company,  if  any  man  that 
is  called  a  brother  be  a  fornicator,  or  covetous,  or  an  idolater, 
or  a  railer,  or  a  drunkard,  or  an  extortioner  ;  with  such  an  one 
no  not  to  eat."  ^ 

In  the  synagogue  all  cases  of  discipline  were  decided  by  the 
bench  of  elders  ; '  and  it  is  plain,  from  the  New  Testament, 
that  those  who  occupied  a  corresponding  position  in  the 
Christian  Church,  exercised  similar  authority.  They  are  de- 
scribed as  having  the  oversight  of  the  flock,'  as  bearing  rule,* 
as  watching  for  souls,'  and  as  taking  care  of  the  Church  of 

'  It  was  in  use  before  the  end  of  the  second  century.  See  Kaye's  "  Ter- 
tullian,"  pp.  431,451. 

-  I  Cor.  X.  17.  '  I  Cor.  v.  1 1. 

*  See  Lightfoot's  "Works,"  iii.  242,  and  xi.  179.  Vitringa,  "  De  Syna- 
goga."  p.  550. 

'  Acts  XX.  28.  '  Heb.  xiii.  17.  '  Heb.  xiii.  17. 


CHURCH   DISCIPLINE.  I99 

God.'  They  are  instructed  how  to  deal  with  offenders,"  and 
they  are  said  to  be  entitled  to  obedience.^  Such  representa- 
tions imply  that  they  were  intrusted  with  the  administration 
of  ecclesiastical  discipline. 

This  account  of  the  functions  of  the  spiritual  rulers  has  by 
some  been  considered  inconsistent  with  several  statements  in 
the  apostolic  epistles.  It  has  been  alleged  that,  according  to 
these  letters,  the  administration  of  discipline  was  vested  in 
the  whole  body  of  the  people  ;  and  that  originally  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Church,  in  their  collective  capacity,  exercised  the 
right  of  excommunication.  The  language  of  Paul,  in  reference 
to  a  case  of  scandal  which  occurred  among  the  Christians  of 
Corinth,  has  been  often  quoted  in  proof  of  the  democratic 
character  of  their  ecclesiastical  constitution.  "  It  is  reported 
commonly,"  says  the  apostle,  "  that  there  is  fornication  among 
you,  and  such  fornication  as  is  not  so  much  as  named  among 

the  Gentiles,  that  one  should  have  his  father's  wife 

Therefore/?//  azvay  from  among  yourselves  that  ivicked  pcrsony  * 
The  admonition  was  obeyed,  and  the  application  of  discipline 
produced  a  most  salutary  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  of- 
fender. In  his  next  letter  the  apostle  accordingly  alludes  to 
this  circumstance,  and  observes  :  "  Sufficient  to  such  a  man  is 
this  punishment,  which  was  inflicted  of  many."  ^  These  words 
have  been  frequently  adduced  to  show  that  the  government 
of  the  Corinthian  Church  was  administered  by  the  whole  body 
of  the  communicants. 

The  various  statements  of  Scripture,  if  rightly  understood, 
exactly  harmonize,  and  a  closer  investigation  of  the  case  of 
this  transgressor  is  all  that  is  required  to  prove  that  he  was 
not  tried  and  condemned  by  a  tribunal  composed  of  the  whole 
mass  of  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Corinth.  His  true  his- 
tory reveals  facts  of  a  very  different  character.  For  reasons 
which  it  would,  perhaps,  be  now  in  vain  to  hope  fully  to  ex- 
plore, he  was  a  favorite  among  his  fellow-disciples  ;  many  of 
them,  prior  to  their  conversion,  had  been  grossly  licentious  ; 

'  I  Tim.  iii.  5.  *  i  Tim.  v.  19,  20,  ^  Heb.  xiii.  17. 

*  I  Cor.  V.  I,  13.  '2  Cor.  ii.  6. 


200  CHURCH   DISCIPLIxVE. 

and  they  continued  to  regard  certain  lusts  of  the  flesh  with  an 
eye  of  comparative  indulgence/  Some  of  them  probably  con- 
sidered the  conduct  of  this  offender  as  only  a  legitimate  exer- 
cise of  his  Christian  liberty  ;  and  manifested  a  strong  inclina- 
tion to  shield  him  from  ecclesiastical  censure.  Paul,  therefore, 
felt  it  necessary  to  address  them  in  the  language  of  indignant 
expostulation.  "  Ve  arc  puffed  up,''  says  he,  "  and  have  not 
rather  mourned  that  he  that  hath  done  this  deed  might  be 

taken  away  from  among  you Your  glorying  is  not  good. 

Know  ye  not  that  a  little  leaven  leaveneth  the  whole  lump  }  "  * 
At  the  same  time,  as  an  apostle  bound  to  vindicate  the  repu- 
tation of  the  Church,  and  to  enforce  the  rules  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline,  he  solemnly  announces  his  determination  to  have 
the  offender  excommunicated.  "  I  verily,"  says  he,  "  as  absent 
in  body,  but  present  in  spirit,  have  judged  AtQdidy  as  though  I 
were  present,  concerning  him  that  hath  so  done  this  deed,  in 
the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whett  ye  are  gathered  to- 
gether, and  my  spirit,  with  the  power  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
to  deliver  such  an  o?ie  unto  Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the 
flesh,  that  the  Spirit  may  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord 
Jesus."  '  To  deliver  any  one  to  Satan  is  to  expel  him  from 
the  Church — for  whoever  is  not  in  the  Church  is  in  the  wor  d, 
and  "  the  whole  world  lieth  in  the  Wicked  one."  *  This  dis- 
cipline was  designed  to  teach  the  fornicator  to  mortify  his 
lusts,  and  it  thus  aimed  at  the  promotion  of  his  highest  inter- 
ests ;  or,  as  the  apostle  expresses  it,  he  was  to  be  excommuni- 
cated "  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,'  that  the  spirit  might 
be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 

The  Church  of  Corinth  was  now  in  a  state  of  great  disorder. 

'  See  Period  I.,  section  i.,  chap  v.,  p.  78.  "  i  Cor.  v.  2,  6. 

'  I  Cor.  V.  3-5.  ■*  I  John  v.  19,  '    r*;;  novr^p^ 

"  In  the  above  passage  respecting  delivering  unto  Satan  there  is,  per- 
haps, a  reference  to  Job.  ii.  6,  7,  and  it  may  be  that  some  bodily  affliction 
rested  on  the  offender.  In  that  case  there  was  here  an  exercise  of  super- 
natural power  on  the  part  of  Paul.  According  to  Terluilian,  to  deliver  to 
Satan  was  simply  to  excommunicate.  "  De  ceteris  dixit  qui  illis  traditis 
Satanas,  id  est,  extra  ecclesiam  projectis,  erudiri  habcrent  blasi)licmandum 
non  esse." — De  Pudicitia,  c.  xiii. 


CHURCH   DISCIPLINE.  201 

A  partisan  spirit  had  crept  in  among  its  members  ;  *  and  it  is 
probable  that  those  elders*  who  were  anxious  to  maintain 
wholesome  discipline  were  opposed  and  overborne.  The  for- 
nicator had  in  some  way  contrived  to  make  himself  so  popular 
that  an  attempt  at  his  expulsion  would,  it  was  feared,  throw 
the  whole  society  into  hopeless  confusion.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances Paul  felt  it  necessary  to  interpose,  to  assert  his 
apostolic  authority,  and  to  insist  on  the  maintenance  of  eccle- 
siastical order.  Instead,  however,  of  consulting  the  people  as 
to  the  course  to  be  pursued,  he  peremptorily  delivers  \{\'s,judg- 
ment,  and  requires  them  to  hold  a  solemn  assembly  that  they 
may  listen  to  the  public  announcement '  of  a  sentence  of  ex- 
communication. He,  of  course,  expected  that  their  rulers 
would  concur  with  him  in  this  decision,  and  that  one  of  them 
would  officially  publish  it  when  they  were  "  gathered  together." 
When  the  case  is  thus  stated,  it  is  easy  to  understand  why 
the  apostle  required  all  the  disciples  to  ''  put  away "  from 
among  themselves  "  that  wicked  person."  Had  they  continued 
to  cherish  the  spirit  they  had  recently  displayed,  they  might 
either  have  encouraged  the  fornicator  to  refuse  submission  to 
the  sentence,  or  have  rendered  it  comparatively  powerless. 
He  therefore  reminds  them  that  they  too  should  seek  to  pro- 
mote the  purity  of  ecclesiastical  fellowship;  and  that  they 
were  bound  to  co-operate  in  carrying  out  a  righteous  disci- 
pline. They  were  to  cease  to  recognize  this  fallen  disciple  as 
a  servant  of  Christ ;  to  withdraw  themselves  from  his  society ; 
to  decline  to  meet  him  on  the  same  terms,  as  heretofore,  in 

'  I  Cor.  i.  II,  12. 

^  That  the  Church  of  Corinth  at  this  time  was  organized  in  the  same  way 
as  other  Christian  communities  is  evident  from  various  allusions  in  the  first 
epistle.  See  i  Cor.  iv.  15,  vi.  5,  xii.  27,  28.  Crispus,  mentioned  Acts  xviii. 
8,  was,  no  doubt,  one  of  the  eldership.  There  is  a  reference  to  the  elders 
in  I  Cor.  xiv.  30.     See  Vitringa,  "  De  Synagoga,"  p.  600. 

^  In  the  apostolic  age,  censures  were  pronounced  in  presence  of  the  whole 
church.  See  i  Tim.  v.  20.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  Paul  himself  does  not 
excommunicate  the  offender.  He  merely  delivers  his  apostolic  judgment 
that  the  thing  should  be  done,  and  calls  upon  the  Corinthians  to  do  it ;  but 
he  expects  them  to  proceed  in  due  order,  the  rulers  and  the  people  perform- 
ing their  respective  parts.  • 


202  CHURCH   DISCIPLINE. 

social  intercourse  ;  and  not  even  to  eat  in  his  company.  Thus 
would  the  reputation  of  the  Church  be  vindicated  ;  for  in  this 
way  it  would  be  immediately  known  to  all  who  were  without 
that  he  was  no  longer  considered  a  member  of  the  brotherhood. 

The  Corinthians  were  awakened  to  a  sense  of  duty  by  this 
apostolic  letter,  and  acted  up  to  its  instructions.  The  result 
was  most  satisfactory.  When  the  offender  saw  that  he  was 
cut  off  from  the  Church,  and  that  its  members  avoided  his  so- 
ciety, he  was  completely  humbled.  The  sentence  of  the  apos- 
tle, or  the  eldership,  if  opposed  or  neglected  by  the  people, 
might  have  produced  little  impression  ;  but  "  the  punishment 
which  was  inflicted  of  many " — the  immediate  and  entire 
abandonment  of  all  connection  with  him  by  the  disciples  at 
Corinth— overwhelmed  him  with  shame  and  terror.  He  felt 
as  a  man  smitten  by  the  judgment  of  God ;  he  renounced  his 
sin ;  and  exhibited  the  most  unequivocal  tokens  of  genuine 
contrition.  In  due  time  he  was  restored  to  Church  fellowship  ; 
and  the  apostle  then  exhorted  his  brethren  to  readmit  him  to 
intercourse,  and  to  treat  him  with  kindness  and  confidence. 
"  Ye  ought,"  says  he,  "  rather  to  forgive  him  and  comfort  him, 
lest  perhaps  such  an  one  should  be  swallowed  up  with  over- 
much sorrow.  Wherefore  I  beseech  you  that  ye  would  con- 
firm your  love  toward  him."  ' 

This  case  of  the  Corinthian  fornicator  has  been  recorded  for 
the  admonition  and  guidance  of  believers  in  all  generations. 
It  teaches  that  every  member  of  a  Christian  Church  is  bound 
to  use  his  best  endeavors  to  promote  a  pure  communion ; 
and  that  he  is  not  guiltless  if,  prompted  by  mistaken  charity 
or  considerations  of  selfishness,  he  is  not  p.epared  to  co-oper- 
ate in  the  exclusion  of  false  brethren.  Many  an  immoral 
minister  has  maintained  his  position,  and  has  thus  continued 

^  *  2  Cor.  ii.  7,  8.  The  mode  of  proceeding  here  indicated  is  illustrated  by 
what  took  place  in  the  Church  of  Rome  about  the  middle  of  the  third  cent- 
ury. There  certain  penitents  first  appeared  before  the  presbytery  to  ex- 
press their  contrition,  and  then  it  was  arranged  that  "  this  whole  proceeding 
should  be  communicated  to  the  people,  that  they  might  see  tliose  established 
in  the  Church,  whom  they  had  so  long  seen  and  mourned  wandering  and 
straying." — Cyprian,  Epist,  .xlvi.,  p.  136.     Edit.  Baluzius,  Venice,  1728. 


EXCOMMUNICATION.  20$ 

to  bring  discredit  on  the  Gospel,  simply  because  those  who  had 
witnessed  his  misconduct  were  induced  to  suppress  their  testi- 
mony ;  and  many  a  church  court  has  been  prevented  from 
enforcing  discipline  by  the  clamors  or  intimidation  of  an  ig- 
norant and  excited  congregation.  The  command,  "  Put  away 
from  among  yourselves  that  wicked  person,"  is  addressed  to 
the  people,  as  well  as  to  the  ministry  ;  and  all  Christ's  disciples 
should  feel  that,  in  vindicating  the  honor  of  His  name,  they 
have  a  common  interest,  and  share  a  common  responsibility. 
Every  one  can  not  be  a  member  of  a  church  court ;  but  every 
one  can  aid  in  the  preservation  of  church  discipline.  He  may 
supply  information,  or  give  evidence,  or  encourage  a  healthy 
tone  of  public  sentiment,  or  assist,  by  petition  or  remon- 
strance, in  quickening  the  zeal  of  lukewarm  judicatories. 
And  discipline  is  never  so  influential  as  when  it  is  known  to 
be  sustained  by  the  approving  verdict  of  a  pious  and  intelli- 
gent community.  The  punishment  "  inflicted  of  many" — the 
withdrawal  of  the  confidence  and  countenance  of  a  whole 
church — is  a  most  impressive  admonition  to  a  proud  sinner. 

In  the  apostolic  age  the  sentence  of  excommunication  had 
a  very  different  significance  from  that  which  was  attached  to 
it  at  a  subsequent  period.  Our  Lord  pointed  out  its  import 
with  equal  precision  and  brevity  when  He  said,  "  If  thy 
brother  ....  neglect  to  hear  the  church,'  let  him  be  unto 
thee  as  an  heathen  man  and  a  publican." '  The  Israelites 
could  have  no  religious  fellowship  with  heathens,  or  the 
worshippers  of  false  gods ;  and  they  could  have  no  personal 
respect  for  publicans,  or  Roman  tax-gatherers,  who  were  re- 
garded as  odious  representatives  of  the  oppressors  of  their 
country.  To  be  "  unto  them  as  an  heathen  "  was  to  be  exclu- 
ded from  the  privileges  of  their  church  ;  and  to  be  "  unto  them 
as  a  publican  "  was  to  be  shut  put  from  their  society  in  the 
way  of  domestic  intercourse.  When  the  apostle  says,  "  Now 
Ave  command  you,  brethren,  that  ye  withdraw  yourselves  from 
every  brother  that  walketh  disorderly  and  not  after  the  ordi- 

*  That  "  the  church "  here  signifies  the  eldership,  see   Vitringa,   "  De 
Synagoga,"  p.  724. 
"^  Matt,  xviii.  15,  17. 


204  EXCOMMUNICATION. 

nance' which  he  received  of  us,""  he  designed  to  intimate 
that  those  who  were  excommunicated  should  be  admitted 
neither  to  the  intimacy  of  private  friendship  nor  to  the  seal- 
ing ordinances  of  the  Gospel.  But  it  did  not  follow  that  the 
disciples  were  to  treat  such  persons  with  insolence  or  in- 
humanity. They  were  not  at  liberty  to  act  thus  toward 
heathens  and  publicans ;  for  they  were  to  love  even  their 
enemies,  and  to  imitate  the  example  of  their  Father  in  heaven 
who  "  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and 
sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust." '  It  is  obvious 
from  the  address  of  the  apostle  to  the  Thessalonians  that  the 
members  of  the  Church  were  not  forbidden  to  speak  to  those 
who  were  separated  from  communion  ;  and  that  they  were  not 
required  to  refuse  them  the  ordinary  charities  of  life.  They 
were  simply  to  avoid  such  an  intercourse  as  implied  a  com- 
munity of  faith,  of  feeling,  and  of  interest.  "  If  any  man," 
says  he,  "  obey  not  our  word  by  this  epistle,  note  that  man, 
and  /lavc  no  company  zvith  him,  that  he  may  be  ashamed.  Yet 
count  him  not  as  aji  enemy,  but  admonish  him  as  a  brother.''  * 

How  diffeient  was  this  discipline  from  that  established, 
several  centuries  afterward,  in  the  Latin  Church  !  The  spirit 
and  usages  of  paganism  then  supplanted  the  regulations  of 
the  New  Testament,  and  the  excommunication  of  Christianity 
was  converted  into  the  excommunication  of  Druidism.^  Our 
Lord  taught  that  "  whoever  would  not  hear  the  church " 
should  be  treated  as  a  heathen  man  and  a  publican  ;  but  the 
time  came  when  he  who  forfeited  his  status  as  a  member  of 
the  Christian  commonwealth  was  denounced  as  a  monster  or  a 
fiend.  Paul  declared  that  the  person  excommunicated,  instead 
of  being  counted  as  an  enemy,  should  be  admonished  as  a 
brother;  but  the  Latin  Church,  in  a  long  list  of  horrid  impre- 

'  In  our  Eng-lish  version  the  original  word  (jrapaihaiv)  is  improperly  ren- 
dered tradition. 

^  2  Thess.  iii.  6.  '  Matt.  v.  45. 

*  2  Thess.  iii.  14,  15. 

'  For  an  account  of  the  excommunication  of  the  Druids,  see  Caesar,  "  De 
Bello  Gallico,"  vi.  13.  Many  things  in  the  Latin  excommunication  are  bor- 
rowed from  paganism. 


EXCOMMUNICATION.  20$ 

cations,'  invoked  a  curse  upon  every  member  of  the  body  of 
the  offender,  and  commanded  every  one  to  refuse  to  him  the 
civihty  of  the  coldest  salutation  !  The  early  Church  acted  as 
a  faithful  monitor,  anxious  to  reclaim  the  sinner  from  the  error 
of  his  ways :  the  Latin  Church,  like  a  tyrant,  refuses  to  the 
transgressor  even  that  which  is  his  due,  and  seeks  either  to 
reduce  him  to  slavery  or  to  drive  him  to  despair. 

'  As  an  example  of  this,  see  an  old  form  of  excommunication  in  Collier's 
"  Ecclesiastical  History,"  ii.  273.     Edit.  London,  1840. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE     EXTRAORDINARY     TEACHERS     OF    THE     APOSTOLIC 

CHURCH;   AND    ITS   ORDINARY  OFFICE-BEARERS, 

THEIR  APPOINTMENT,   AND   ORDINATION. 

Paul  declares  that  Christ  "  gave  some,  apostles ;  and  some, 
prophets  ;  and  some,  evangelists  ;  and  some,  pastors  and  teach- 
ers; for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  th^  min- 
istry, for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ."  '  In  another 
place  the  same  writer,  when  speaking  of  those  occupying  po- 
sitions of  prominence  in  the  ecclesiastical  community,  makes 
a  somewhat  similar  enumeration.  "  God,"  says  he,  "  hath  set 
some  in  the  church,  first,  apostles ;  secondarily,  prophets ; 
thirdly,  teachers;  after  that,  miracles;  then,  gifts  of  healings, 
helps,  governments,  diversities  of  tongues."  ' 

These  two  passages,  presenting  something  like  catalogues 
of  the  most  prominent  characters  connected  with  the  Apos- 
tolic Church,  throw  light  upon  each  other.  They  mention  the 
ordinary,  as  well  as  the  extraordinary,  ecclesiastical  function- 
aries. Under  the  class  of  ordinary  office-bearers  must  be 
placed  those  described  as  "  pastors  and  teachers,"  "  helps,"  and 
"  governments."  The  evangelists,  such  as  Timothy,'  Titus, 
and  Philip,'  had  a  special  commission  to  assist  in  organizing 
the  infant  Church  ; "  and,  as  they  were  furnished  with  super- 
natural endowments,"  they  were  extraordinary  functionaries. 

'  Eph.  iv.  II,  12.  "  I  Cor.  xii.  28.  "  2  Tim.  iv.  5. 

*  Acts  xxi.  8,  viii.  5.  "  i  Tim.  i.  3,  v.  i,  7,  17  ;  Tit.  i.  5. 

'  Acts  viii.  13  ;  2  Tim.  i.  6.  This  latter  text  is  often  quoted,  though  er- 
roneously, as  if  it  referred  to  the  ordination  of  Timothy.  The  ordainer 
usually  laid  on  only  his  rij^ht  hand.  See  "  Con.  Carthng."  iv.  can.  iii.  iv. 
In  conferring  extraordinary  endowments  both  hands  were  imposed.  See 
Acts  xix.  6. 

(206) 


CHURCH   OFFICERS.  207 

The  apostles  themselves  clearly  belong  to  the  same  denomina- 
tion. They  all  possessed  the  gift  of  inspiration  ;  '  they  all 
received  their  authority  immediately  from  Christ ;  "^  they  all 
"went  in  and  out  with  Him  "  during  His  personal  ministry; 
and,  as  they  all  saw  Him  after  He  rose  from  the  dead,  they 
could  all  attest  His  resurrection.^  It  is  plain,  too,  that  the 
ministrations  of  "the  prophets,"  as  well  as  of  those  who 
wrought  "  miracles,"  who  possessed  "  gifts  of  healings,"  and 
who  had  "  diversities  of  tongues,"  must  also  be  designated 
extraordinary. 

It  is  probable  that  by  the  "helps,"  of  whom  Paul  here 
speaks,  he  understands  the  deacons,''  who  were  originally  ap- 
pointed to  relieve  the  apostles  of  a  portion  of  labor  which 
they  felt  to  be  inconvenient  and  burdensome.'  The  duties  of 
the  deacons  were  not  strictly  of  a  spiritual  character;  these 
ministers  held  only  a  subordinate  station  among  the  office- 
bearers of  the  Church ;  and,  even  in  dealing  with  its  tempo- 
ralities, they  acted  under  the  advice  and  direction  of  those 
who  were  properly  intrusted  with  its  government.  Hence, 
perhaps,  they  were  called  "  helps  "  or  attendants.^ 

When  these  helps  and  the  extraordinary  functionaries  are 
left  out  of  the  apostolic  catalogues,  in  the  passage  addressed 
to  the  Ephesians,  we  have  nothing  remaining  but  "PASTORS 
AND  TEACHERS ";  and,  in  that  to  the  Corinthians  nothing 
but  "  TEACHERS  "  AND  "  GOVERNMENTS."  There  are  good 
grounds  for  believing  that  these  two  residuary  elements  are 
identical, — the  "  pastors,"  mentioned  before  ^  the  teachers  in 
one  text,  being  equivalent  to  the  "  governments  "  mentioned 
after  them    in   the   other.*     Nor  is  it  strange  that  those  in- 

'  John  xiv.  26,  xvi.  13,  xx.  22.  °  Matt.  x.  i,  xxviii.  18,  19. 

'  John  XX.  26,  xxi.  i  ;  Acts  i.  3 ;  i  Cor.  ix.  i. 

^  Such  is  the  opinion  of  Chr>sostom  and  others.  See  Alford  on  this 
passage. 

*  Acts  vi.  2-4. 

'  In  the  Peshito  version  helps  and  governments  are  translated  helpers  and 
governors. 

'  It  is  remarkable  that  the  lay  council  of  the  modem  synagogue  are  called 
Parnasim  or  Pastors.     See  Vitringa,  "  De  Synagoga,"  pp.  578,  635. 

^  Mr.  Alford  observes  that  in  i  Cor.  xii.  28,  "we   must  not  seek  for  a 


208  ELDERS   OR   BISHOPS. 

trusted  with  the  ecclesiastical  government  should  be  styled 
pastors  or  shepherds ;  for  they  are  the  guardians  and  rulers  of 
"  the  flock  of  God."  '  Thus  the  ordinary  office-bearers  of  the 
Apostolic  Church  were  pastors,  teachers,  and  helps ;  or,  teach- 
ers, rulers,  and  deacons. 

In  the  apostolic  age  we  read  likewise  of  elders  and  bishops ; 
and  in  the  New  Testament  these  names  are  often  used  inter- 
changeably.'' The  elders,  or  bishops,  were  the  same  as  the 
pastors  and  teachers  ;  for  they  had  the  charge  of  the  instruc- 
tion and  government  of  the  Church.*  Hence  elders  are  re- 
quired to  act  as  faithful  pastors  under  Christ,  the  Chief  Shep- 
herd.* Whilst  some  of  the  elders  were  only  pastors,  or  rulers, 
others  were  also  teachers.  The  apostle  says  accordingly, 
"  Let  the  elders  that  rule  well,  be  counted  worthy  of  double 
honor,  especially  those  that  labor  in  the  word  arid  doctri?ie"  " 
We  thus  see  that  the  teachers,  governments,  and  helps,  men- 
tioned by  Paul  when  writing  to  the  Corinthians,  are  the  same 
as  the  "  bishops  and  deacons  "  of  whom  he  speaks  elsewhere.' 

In  primitive  times  there  were,  generally,  a  plurality  of  elders, 
as  well  as  a  plurality  of  deacons,  in  every  church  or  congrega- 
tion ; ""  and  each  functionary  was  expected  to  apply  himself  to 
that  particular  department  of  his  office  which  he  could  man- 
age most  efficiently.  Some  elders  possessed  a  peculiar  talent 
for  expounding  the  Gospel  in  the  way  of  preaching,  or,  as  it 

classified  arrangement  " — the  arrangement  being  "  rather  suggestive  than 
logical."     Hence  "helps"  are  mentioned  before  "governments."     In  the 
same  way  in  Eph.  iv.  ii,  "pastors"  precede  "  teachers." 
'  Acts  XX.  28 ;  I  Pet.  v.  2. 

■~-  «  Acts  xxi.  17.  28 ;  Titus  i.  5,  7 ;  i  Pet.  v.  i,  2. 

~-  *  I  Tim.  iii.  i,  2,  5. 

*  I  Pet.  V.  1,2,  4.  The  identity  of  elders  and  pastors  is  more  distinctly 
exhibited  in  the  original  here,  and  in  Acts  xx.  17,  28,  as  the  word  translated 

feed  signifies  literally  to  act  as  a  shepherd  or  pastor. 

*  I  Tim.  V.  17.  Mr.  EUicott,  in  his  work  on  the  "  Pastoral  Epistles,"  thus 
speaks  of  this  passage,  "  The  concluding  words,  hv  Aciyij  xai  fmSaaK.,  certainly 
seem  to  imply  two  kinds  of  ruling  presbyters,  those  who  preached  and 
taught  and  those  who  did  not." 

'  Compare  i  Cor.  xii.  28,  and  Philip,  i.  i  ;  i  Tim.  iii.  1-8. 
'  Acts  vi.  3,  xiv.  23 ;  Titus  i.  5 ;  James  v.  14. 


BISHOPS   AND   DEACONS.  209 

was  occasionally  called,  prophesying  ; '  others  excelled  in  deliv- 
ering hortatory  addresses  to  the  people  ;  others  displayed  great 
tact  and  sagacity  in  conducting  ecclesiastical  business,  or  in 
dealing  personally  with  offenders,  or  with  penitents ;  whilst 
others  again  were  singularly  successful  in  imparting  private 
instruction  to  catechumens.  Some  deacons  were  frequently 
commissioned  to  administer  to  the  wants  of  the  sick ;  and 
others,  who  were  remarkable  for  their  shrewdness  and  discrimi- 
nation, were  employed  to  distribute  alms  to  the  indigent.  In 
one  of  his  epistles  Paul  pointedly  refers  to  the  multiform 
duties  of  these  ecclesiastical  office-bearers,  "  Having  then," 
says  he,  "  gifts,  differing  according  to  the  grace  that  is  given 
to  us,  whether  prophecy,  let  us  prophesy  according  to  the  pro- 
portion of  faith ;  or  ministry  (of  the  deacon),  let  us  wait  on 
our  ministering;  or  he  that  teacheth,  on  teaching;  or  he  that 
exhorteth,  on  exhortation ;  he  that  giveth,  let  him  do  it  with 
simplicity ;  he  that  ruleth,  with  diligence ;  he  that  showeth 
mercy,  with  cheerfulness."  ^ 

Some  maintain  that  all  the  primitive  elders,  or  bishops, 
were  preachers ;  but  the  records  of  apostolic  times  warrant 
no  such  conclusion.  These  elders  were  appointed  to  "  take 
care  of  the  Church  of  God ";  ^  and  it  was  not  necessary 
that  each  individual  should  perform  all  the  functions  of  the 
pastoral  office.  Even  at  the  present  day  a  single  preacher  is 
generally  sufficient  to  minister  to  a  single  congregation. 
When  Paul  requires  that  the  elders  who  rule  well,  though 
they  may  not  "  labor  in  the  word  and  doctrine,"  shall  be 
counted   worthy   of   double   honor,*   his   language   distinctly 

'  I  Cor.  xiv.  I,  5,  6,  31.  "^  Rom.  xii.  6-8.        -^ 

^  I  Tim.  iii.  5.  Lightfoot  says  that  "  in  ever}'  synagogue  there  was  a 
civil  triumvirate,  that  is,  three  magistrates  who  judged  of  matters  in  contest 
arising  within  that  synagogue." — Works,  xi.  179.  The  same  writer  de- 
clares that  "in  every  synagogue  there  were  elders  that  ruled  in  civil  affairs, 
and  elders  that  labored  in  the  word  and  doctrine." — Works,  iii.  242,  243. 

*  ^nrl^g  TtftfiQ.  Those  who  adduce  this  passage  to  prove  that  the  apostle 
here  defines  the  pecuniary  remuneration  of  elders,  involve  themselves  in 
much  difficulty  ;  for,  if  limited  to  the  matter  of  payment  and  literally  inter- 
preted, it  would  lead  to  the  inference  that,  irrespective  of  the  amount  of 
service  rendered,  all  the  elders  should  receive  the  same  compensation  ;  and 
14 


210  ELDERS   SHOULD   BE   APT   TO   TEACH. 

indicates  that  there  were  then  persons  designated  elders  who 
did  not  preach,  and  who,  notwithstanding,  were  entitled  to 
respect  as  exemplary  and  efficient  functionaries.  It  is  remark- 
able that  when  the  apostle  enumerates  the  qualifications  of  a 
bishop,  or  elder,'  he  scarcely  refers  to  oratorical  endowments. 
He  states  that  the  ruler  of  the  Church  should  be  grave,  sober, 
prudent,  and  benevolent  ;  but,  as  to  his  ability  to  propagate 
his  principles  he  employs  only  one  word,  rendered  in  our  ver- 
sion "  apt  to  teach." "  This  does  not  imply  that  he  must  be 
qualified  to  preach,  for  teaching  and  preacJiing  are  repeatedly 
distinguished  in  the  New  Testament ;  ^  neither  does  it  signify 
that  he  is  to  become  a  professional  tutor,  for,  as  has  already 
been  intimated,  all  elders  are  not  expected  to  labor  in  the 
word  and  doctrine ;  it  merely  denotes  that  he  should  be  able 
and  willing,  as  often  as  an  opportunity  occurred,  to  commu- 
nicate a  knowledge  of  divine  tru^h-  All  believers  are 
required  to  "exhort  one  another  daily,"'  ''teaching  and  ad- 
monishing one  another,"  '  being  "  ready  always  to  give  an 
answer  to  every  man  that  asketh  them  a  reason  of  the  hope 
that  is  in  them  "  ; '  and  those  who  "  watch  for  souls  "  should 
be  specially  zealous  in  performing  these  duties  of  their  Chris- 
tian vocation.  The  word  which  has  been  supposed  to  indicate 
that  every  elder  should  be  a  public  instructor  occurs  in  only 
one  other  instance  in  the  New  Testament ;  and  in  that  case  it 
is  used  in  a  connection  which  serves  to  illustrate  its  meaning. 
Paul  there  states  that  whilst  such  as  minister  to  the  Lord 
should  avoid  a  controversial  spirit,  they  should  at  the  same 
time  be  willing  to  supply  explanations  to  objectors,  and  to 
furnish  them  with  information.  "  The  servant  of  the  Lord," 
says  he,  "  must  not  strive,  but  be  gentle  unto  all  men,  apt  to 

that  no  church  teacher,  though  the  father  of  a  large  family,  should  be  allowed 
more  than  twice  the  gratuity  of  a  poor  widow  !  Compare  i  Tim.  v.  3,  and 
17.  The  "  double  honor  "  of  i  Tim.  v.  17  is  evidently  equivalent  to  the  "  all 
honor  "  of  I  Tim.  vi.  i.  In  the  latter  case  there  can  be  no  reference  to 
payment.  Paul  obviously  means  to  say  that  the  claims  of  elders  should  be 
fully  recognized  ;  and  in  the  following  verse  (i  Tim.  v.  18)  he  refers  point,' 
edly  to  the  temporal  support  to  which  church  teachers  are  entitled. 

'  I  Tim.  iii.  2-7.  "  MaKTiKitv.  '  Matt.  iv.  23  ;  Acts  v.  42,  xv.  35. 

♦  Heb.  iii.  13.  '  Col.  iii.  16.  '  i  Peter  iii.  15. 


PREACHING.  211 

teach,  patient,  in  meekness  instructing  those  that  oppose  them- 
selves, if  God  peradventure  will  give  them  repentance  to  the 
acknowledging  of  the  truth."  '  Here  the  aptness  to  teach  refers 
apparently  to  a  talent  for  winning  over  gainsayers  by  means 
of  instruction  communicated  in  private  conversation.^ 

But  still  preaching  is  the  grand  ordinance  of  God,  as  well 
for  the  edification  of  saints  as  for  the  conversion  of  sinners; 
and  it  was,  therefore,  necessary  that  at  least  some  of  the 
session  or  eldership  connected  with  each  flock  should  be 
competent  to  conduct  the  congregational  worship.  As 
spiritual  gifts  were  more  abundant  in  the  apostolic  times 
than  afterward,  at  first  several  of  the  elders'  were  often 
found  ready  to  take  part  in  its  celebration.  By  degrees, 
however,  nearly  the  whole  service  devolved  on  one  individ- 
ual ;  and  this  preaching  elder  was  very  properly  treated 
with  peculiar  deference."  He  was  accordingly  soon  recog- 
nized as  the  stated  president  of  the  presbytery,  or  eldership. 

It  thus  appears  that  the  preaching  elder  held  the  most 
honorable  position  among  the  ordinary  functionaries  of  the 
Apostolic  Church.  Whilst  his  office  required  the  highest 
order  of  gifts  and  accomplishments,  and  exacted  the  largest 
amount  of  mental  and  even  physical  exertion,  the  prosperity 
of  the  whole  ecclesiastical  community  depended  mainly  on 
his  acceptance  and  efificiency.  The  people  are  accordingly 
frequently  reminded  that  they  are  bound  to  respect  and 
sustain  their  spiritual  instructors.  "Let  him  that  is  taught 
in  the  word,"  says  Paul,  ''  communicate  unto  him  that  teach- 
eth    in    all   good    things." "      "  The    Scripture    saith,    Thou 

-^    *  2  Tim.  ii.  24,  25. 

"  Even  a  female,  though  not  permitted  to  speak  in  the  Church,  had  often 
this  aptness  for  teaching.  Such  was  the  case  with  the  excellent  Priscilla, 
Acts  xviii.  26.  The  aged  women  were  required  to  be  "  teachers  of  good 
things,"  Titus  ii.  5. 

^  In  the  Church  of  Corinth  several  speakers  were  in  the  habit  of  address- 
ing the  same  meeting,     i  Cor.  xiv.  26,  27,  29,  31. 
\     *  Tim.  V.  17.     Though  ordination  was  by  "  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of 
the  presbytery,  "  the  New  Testament  does  not  mention  any  case  in  which  a 
ruling  elder  thus  officiated.     See  Acts  vi.  6,  xiii.  1-3,  xiv.  23. 
*  Gal.  vi.  6. 


212  THE   APOSTLES. 

shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn ;  and, 
The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  reward."'  "So  hath  tKa 
Lord  ordained  that  they  which  preach  the  Gospel  should 
live  of  the  Gospel."  ' 

The  apostles  held  a  position  which  no  ministers  after 
them  could  occupy,  for  they  were  appointed  by  our  Lord 
himself  to  organize  the  Church.  As  they  were  to  carry 
out  instructions  which  they  had  received  from  His  own 
lips,  and  as  they  were  armed  with  the  power  of  working 
miracles,'  they  possessed  an  extraordinary  share  of  per- 
sonal authority.  Aware  that  their  circumstances  were 
peculiar,  and  that  their  services  would  be  available  till  the 
end  of  time,^  they  left  the  ecclesiastical  government,  as 
they  passed  away  one  after  another,  to  the  care  of  the 
elders  who  had  meanwhile  shared  in  its  administration.' 
As  soon  as  the  Church  began  to  assume  a  settled  form, 
they  mingled  with  these  elders  on  terms  of  equality  ;  and, 
as  at  the  Council  of  Jerusalem,"  sat  with  them  in  the  same 
deliberative  assemblies.  When  Paul  addressed  the  elders 
of  Ephesus  for  the  last  time,  and  took  his  solemn  farewell 
of  them,'  he  commended  the  Church  to  their  charge,  and 
emphatically  pressed  upon  them  the  importance  of  fidelity 
and  vigilance.^  In  his  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy,  written 
in  the  prospect  of  his  martyrdom,  he  makes  no  allusion  to 
the  expediency  of  selecting  another  individual  to  fill  his 
place.     The   apostles   had    fully   executed   their   commission 

'  I  Tim.  V.  i8.  '  I  Cor.  ix.  14.  '  Matt.  x.  i ;   i  Cor.  xiv.  18. 

*  "  The  place  which  the  apostles  occupied  while  they  lived  is  now  filled, 
not  by  a  living  order  of  ministers,  but  by  their  own  in*spired  writings,  which 
constitute,  or  ought  to  constitute,  the  supreme  authority  in  the  Church  of 

God The  New  Testament  Scriptures,  as  they  are  the  only  real  apos- 

tolate  now  in  existence,  so,  are  sufficient  to  supply  to  us  the  place  of  the 
inspired  Twelve." — Litton  s  Church  of  Christ,  p.  410. 

"  "  While  it  is  clearly  recorded  that  the  apostles  instituted  the  orders  of 
presbyters  and  deacons,  it  is  not  so  clearly  recorded,  indeed  it  is  not  record- 
ed at  all,  that  they  instituted  the  order  of  bishops." — Litton,  p.  426.  Such 
a  testimony  from  a  Fellow  of  Oxford  is  creditable  alike  to  his  candor  and  his 
intelligence. 

"  Acts  XV.  6,  xvi.  4,  xxi.  18,  25.        '  Acts  xx.  17,  25.        *  Acts  xx,  29-31. 


THE   APOSTLES.  213 

when,  as  wise  master-builders,  they  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  Church  and  fairly  exhibited  the  divine  model  of  the 
glorious  structure ;  and  as  no  other  parties  could  produce 
the  same  credentials,  no  others  could  pretend  to  the  same 
authority.  But  even  the  apostles  repeatedly  testified  that 
they  regarded  the  preaching  of  the  Word  as  the  highest 
department  of  their  ofiEice.  It  was  not  as  church  rulers,  but 
as  church  teachers,  that  they  were  specially  distinguished. 
"  We  will  give  ourselves,"  said  they,  "  continually  to  prayer, 
and  /<?  ^/le  ministry  of  the  Word."^  "Christ  sent  me,"  said 
Paul,  "  not  to  baptize,  but  to  preach  the  Gospel^  ''  "  Unto 
me,  who  am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,  is  this  grace 
given,  that  I  should  preach  among  the  Gentiles  the  unsearcha- 
ble riches  of  Christ."  ^ 

'  Acts  vi.  4,  "  Here,"  says  Mr.  Litton,  "  no  mention  is  made  of  govern- 
ment or  of  ordination,  as  the  special  prerogative  of  the  apostolic  office; 
and  if  it  were  not  dangerous  to  lay  too  much  stress  tip  on  a  single  passage, 
it  might  from  this  one  be  plausibly  inferred  that  the  special  function  of  the 
apostles,  as  representatives  of  the  ordinary  Christian  ministry,  has  descend- 
ed, not  to  bishops,  but  to  presbyters,  to  whom  it  specially  pertains  to  give 
themselves  to  prayer  and  the  ministry  of  the  Word." — Littoiis  Church  of 
Christ,  p.  407.  It  is  certainly  not  dangerous  to  lay  as  much  stress  upon 
any  Scripture  as  it  will  legitimately  bear,  and  the  inference  here  drawn  is  in 
accordance  with  the  rules  of  the  most  exact  logic. 

'  I  Cor.  i.  17. 

^  Eph.  iii.  8.  In  dealing  with  individuals,  the  apostles  seldom  challenged 
obedience  on  the  ground  of  their  divine  authority.  When  they  are  repre- 
sented as  directing  the  movements  of  ministers,  the  language  generally 
implies  simply  that  the  parties  in  question  undertook  certain  services  at  their 
instigation  or  request,  or  by  their  advice.  Thus,  Paul  says  that  he  besought 
Timothy  to  abide  at  Ephesus,  that  he  left  Titus  in  Crete,  and  that  he  sent 
Epaphroditus  to  the  Philippians  (i  Tim.  i.  3  ;  Titus  i.  5  ;  Philip,  ii.  25).  But 
Paul  himself  is  safd  to  have  been  sent  forth  to  Tarsus  bv  the  brethren  (Acts 
ix,  30).  When  Mark  refused  to  accompany  Paul  and  Silas  into  Asia  Minor 
he  did  not  therefore  forfeit  his  ecclesiastical  status  (Acts  xiii.  13,  xv.  37-39). 
Apart  from  their  special  commission,  the  apostles  were  entitled  to  deference 
from  other  ministers  on  account  of  their  superior  age  and  experience  ;  and 
Paul  sometimes  refers  to  this  claim.  See  Philem.  8,  9.  On  the  same  ground 
all  who  have  recently  entered  the  ministry  are.bound  to  yield  precedence  to 
aged  pastors,  and  to  respect  their  advice.     See  i  Peter  v.  5. 


214  TIMOTHY. 

But  though,  according  to  the  New  Testament,  the  business 
of  ruHng  originally  formed  only  a  subordinate  part  of  the 
duty  of  the  church  teacher,  some  have  maintained  that  eccle- 
siastical government  pertains  to  a  higher  function  than  eccle- 
siastical instruction  ;  and  that  the  apostles  instituted  a  class 
of  spiritual  overseers  to  whose  jurisdiction  all  other  preachers 
are  amenable.  TJiey  imagine  that,  in  the  Pastoral  Epistles, 
they  find  proofs  of  the  existence  of  such  functionaries ; '  and 
they  contend  that  Timothy  and  Titus  were  diocesan  bishops, 
respectively  of  Ephesus  and  Crete.  But  the  arguments  by 
which  they  endeavor  to  sustain  these  views  are  quite  incon- 
clusive. Paul  says  to  Timothy,  "  I  besought  thee  to  abide 
still  at  Ephesus,  when  I  went  into  Macedonia,  that  thou 
might  est  charge  some  that  they  teach  no  other  doctrine  "/''  and 
it  has  hence  been  inferred  that  the  evangelist  was  the  only 
minister  in  the  capital  of  the  Proconsular  Asia  who  was  suffi- 
ciently authorized  to  oppose  heresiarchs.  It  happens,  how- 
ever, that  in  this  epistle  the  writer  says  also  to  his  corre- 
spondent, "  Charge  them  that  are  rich  in  this  world  that  they 
be  not  high-minded,  nor  trust  in  uncertain  riches  "; '  so  that, 
according  to  the  same  method  of  interpretation,  Timothy  was 
the  only  preacher  in  the  place  at  liberty  to  admonish  the  opu- 
lent. When  Paul  subsequently  stood  face  to  face  with  the 
elders  of   Ephesus,"  he  told  them  that  it  was  their  common 

'  It  can  scarcely  be  necessary  to  remind  the  reader  that  the  postscripts  to 
these  epistles  setting  forth  that  Timothy  was  "  ordained  the  first  bishop  of 
the  Chuich  of  the  Ephesians,"  and  that  Titus  was  "ordained  the  first 
bishop  of  the  Church  of  the  Cretians,"  are  spurious.  See  Period  i.,  sec.  ii., 
chap,  i.,  p.  i6i. 

''  I  Tim.  i.  3.     Paul  says  (i  Cor.  iv.  17)  to  the  CorintJiians,  "  I  have  sent 

unto  you  Tiinotheus, who  shall  bring  you  into  remembrance  of  my 

ways  which  be  in  Christ ";  and,  according  to  the  mode  of  reasoning  em- 
ployed by  some,  we  might  infer  from  this"  text  that  Timothy  was  bishop  of 
Corinth.  "  It  is  a  suspicious  circumstance,"  says  Dr.  Burton,  "  that  several 
persons  who  are  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,  are  said  to  have  been 
bishops  of  the  places  connected  with  their  names.  Thus  Cornelius  is  said 
to  have  been  bishop  of  Ctesarea,  and  to  have  succeeded  Zacchieus,  though 
it  is  highly  improiiablc  that  either  of  tiicm  filled  such  an  oiT\c(i.''—Lcrturgs, 
I,  p.  182. 

"  1  Tim.  vi.  17.  *  See  Period  i.,  sect,  i.,  chap,  ix.,  p.  117. 


TITUS.  '  215 

duty  to  discountenance  and  resist  false  teachers  ; '  and  he  had 
therefore  no  idea  of  intrusting  that  responsibility  to  any  soli- 
tary individual.  The  reason  why  the  service  was  pressed 
specially  on  Tinaothy  is  sufficiently  apparent.  He  had  been 
trained  up  by  Paul  himself  ;  he  was  a  young  minister  remark- 
able for  intelligence,  ability,  and  circumspection;  and  he  was 
accordingly  deemed  eminently  qualified  to  deal  with  the  er- 
rorists.  Hence  at  this  juncture  his  presence  at  Ephesus  was 
considered  of  importance ;  and  the  apostle  besought  him  to 
remain  there  whilst  he  himself  was  absent  on  another  mis- 
sion. 

The  argument  founded  on  the  instructions  addressed  to 
Titus  is  equally  unsatisfactory.  Paul  says  to  him,  "  For  this 
cause  left  I  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou  shouldest  set  in  order  the 
things  that  are  wanting,  and  ordain  ^  elders  in  every  city  as  I 
had  appointed  thee "; '  and  from  these  words  the  inference 
has  been  drawn  that  to  Titus  alone  was  committed  the  eccle- 
siastical oversight  of  all  the  churches  of  the  island.  But  the 
words  of  the  apostle  warrant  no  such  sweeping  conclusion. 
Apollos,*  and  perhaps  other  ministers  equal  in  authority  to 
the  evangelist,  were  now  in  Crete,  and  ready  to  co-operate  in 
the  business  of  church  organization.  Titus,  besides,  had  no 
right  to  act  without  the  concurrence  of  the  people ;  for,  in 
all  cases,  even  when  the  apostles  were  officiating,  the  church 
members  were  consulted  in  ecclesiastical  appointments.'  It 
would  appear  that  the  evangelist  had  much  administrative 
ability,  and  this  was  obviously  the  great  reason  why  he  was 
left  behind  Paul  in  Crete.  The  apostle  expected  that,  with 
his  peculiar  energy  and  tact,  he  would  stimulate  the  zeal  of 
the  people,  as  well  as  of  the  other  preachers  ;  and  thus  com- 
plete, as  speedily  as  possible,  the  needful  ecclesiastical  ar- 
rangements. 

When  Paul  once  said  to  the  high-priest  of  Israel,  "  Sittest 

'  Acts  XX.  30,  31. 

"^  The  word  KaraaT^ar/g,  here  translated  "  ordain,"  should  rather  be  ren- 
dered constitute,  or  establish. 
-^   ^  Titus  i.  5,         *  Titus  iii.  13.         *  Acts  vi.  3,  xiv.  23 ;  2  Cor.  viii.  19,  23. 


2l6  TIMOTHY   AND   TITUS. 

thou  to  judge  me  after  the  law,'  and  commandest  me  to  be 
smitten  contrary  to  the  law'" — he  had  no  intention  of  de- 
claring that  the  dignitary  he  addressed  was  the  only  member 
of  the  Jewish  council  who  had  the  right  of  adjudication.' 
The  court  consisted  of  at  least  seventy  individuals,  every  one 
of  whom  had  a  vote  as  effective  as  that  of  the  personage  with 
whom  he  thus  remonstrated.  It  is  said  that  the  high-priest 
at  this  period  was  not  even  the  president  of  the  Sanhedrim.' 
Paul  was  perfectly  aware  of  the  constitution  of  the  tribunal 
to  which  Ananias  belonged  ;  and  he  merely  meant  to  remind 
his  oppressor  that  the  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed 
added  greatly  to  the  iniquity  of  his  present  procedure. 
Though  only  one  of  the  members  of  a  large  judicatory,  he 
was  not  the  less  accountable.  Thus  too,  when  Jesus  said  to 
Paul  himself,  "  I  send  thee  "  to  the  Gentiles,  "  to  open  their 
eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the 
power  of  Satan  unto  God,"^  it  was  certainly  not  understood 
that  the  apostle  was  to  be  the  only  laborer  in  the  wide  field 
of  heathendom.  The  address  simply  intimated  that  he  was 
individually  commissioned  to  undertake  the  service.  And 
though  there  were  other  ministers  at  Ephesus  and  Crete, 
Paul  reminds  Timothy  and  Titus  that  he  had  left  them  there 
to  perform  specific  duties,  and  thus  urges  upon  them  the  con- 
sideration of  their  personal  responsibility.  Though  sur- 
rounded by  so  many  apostles  and  evangelists,  he  tells  us  that 
there  rested  on  himself  daily  "  the  care  of  all  the  churches  "; ' 
for  he  believed  that  the  whole  commonwealth  of  the  saints 
had  a  claim  on  his  prayers,  his  sympathy,  and  his  services ; 
and  he  desired  to  cherish  in  the  hearts  of  his  young  brethren 
the  same  feeling  of  individual  obligation.  Hence,  in  these 
Pastoral  Epistles,  he  gives  his  correspondents  minute  instruc- 
tions respecting  all  the  departments  of  the  ministerial  office, 

'  Acts  xxiii.  3. 

"  "  The  whole  Sanhedrim  were  the  judges,  and  sitting  to  judge  him  ac- 
cording to  the  law." — A /ford  on  Acts'\\\\\.  3. 

3  See  Prideaux's  "Connections,"  part  ii.,  booi<s  i  and  8. 

*  Acts  xxvi.  17,  18.     See  also,  as  another  illustration,  Matt.  xvi.  19. 

*  2  Cor.  xi.  28. 


TIMOTHY   AND   TITUSl  21/ 

and  reminds  them  how  much  depends  on  their  personal  faith- 
fulness. Hence  he  here  points  out  to  them  how  they  are  to 
deport  themselves  in  public  and  in  private  ;  '  as  preachers  of 
the  Word,  and  as  members  of  church  judicatories;''  toward 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  masters  and  slaves,  young  men  and 
widows/  But  there  is  not  a  single  advice  addressed  to 
Timothy  and  Titus  in  any  of  these  three  epistles  which  may 
not  be  appropriately  given  to  any.  ordinary  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  or  which  necessarily  implies  that  either  of  these  evan- 
gelists exercised  exclusive  ecclesiastical  authority  in  Ephesus 
or  Crete." 

The  legend  that  Timothy  and  Titus  were  the  bishops  re- 
spectively of  Ephesus  and  Crete  is  mentioned  first  about  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  and  at  a  time  when  the 
original  constitution  of  the  Church  had  been  completely, 
though  silently,  revolutionized.^  It  is  obvious  that,  when  the 
Pastoral  Epistles  were  written,  these  ministers  were  not  perma- 
nently located  in  the  places  with  which  their  names  have  been 
associated.^  The  apostle  John  resided  principally  at  Ephesus 
during  the  last  thirty  years  of  the  first  century ; ''  so  that,  ac- 
cording to  this  tale,  the  beloved  disciple  was  under  the  ecclesi- 
astical supervision  of  Timothy !  The  story  otherwise  exhibits 
internal  marks  of  absurdity  and  fabrication.  Paul  is  repre- 
sented by  it  as  distributing  most   unequally  the  burden  of 

'  I  Tim.  iv.  12,  13  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  22,  23  ;  Titus  ii.  7,  8. 

'  I  Tim.  ii.  i,  2,  iv.  16,  v.   19,  20,  22  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  2,  15,  iv.  2,  5  ;  Titus  iii. 

8.9. 

'  I  Tim.  V.  5,  16,  vi.  i,  2,  9,  17  ;  Titus  ii.  6,  9,  10. 

*  One  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of  an  appeal  to  the  sense  of  indi- 
vidual obligation  in  a  case  where  many  were  concerned  may  be  found  in 
Gal.  vi.  I. 

*  Whitby,  in  his  "Preface  to  the  Epistle  to  Titus,"  says  candidly  of  the 
allegation  that  Timothy  and  Titus  were  bishops  respectively  of  Ephesus  and 
Crete :  "  Now,  of  this  matter,  I  confess  I  can  find  nothing  in  any  writer  of 
the  iirst  three  centuries,  nor  any  intimation  that  they  bore  that  name." 

"  I  Tim.  i.  3;  2  Tim.  iv.  10,  12,  21  ;  Titus  i.  5,  iii.  12, 

'  Hence  Fulgentius  speaks  of  "  cathedra  Joannis  Evangelistse  Ephesi." 
Lib.  "  De  Trinitate,"  c.  i.  Contradictory  traditions  sometimes  happily  anni- 
hilate each  other.   As  to  the  residence  of  John  at  Ephesus  see  Euseb.  iii.  23. 


2l8  THE   GREATEST  AMONG   THN   BRETHREN. 

official  labor  ;  for  whilst  Timothy  presided  over  the  Christians 
of  a  single  city,  Titus  was  invested  with  the  care  of  a  whole 
island  celebrated  in  ancient  times  for  its  Juindred  cities.^  It  is 
well  known  that  long  after  this  period,  and  when  the  distinction 
between  the  president  of  the  presbytery  and  his  elders  was 
fully  established,  a  bishop  had  the  charge  of  only  one  church, 
so  that  the  account  of  the  episcopate  of  Titus  over  all  Crete 
must  be  rejected  as  a  monstrous  fiction. 

On  the  occasion  of  an  ambitious  request  from  James  and 
John,  our  Lord  expounded  to  His  apostles  one  of  the  great 
principles  of  His  ecclesiastical  polity.  "Jesus  called  them  to 
him,  and  saith  unto  them,  Ye  know  that  they  which  are 
accounted  to  rule  over  the  Gentiles  exercise  lordship  over 
them ;  and  their  great  ones  exercise  authority  upon  them. 
But  so  shall  it  not  be  among  you,  but  whosoever  will  be  great 
among  you,  shall  be  your  minister,  and  whosoever  of  you  will 
be  chiefest,  shall  be  servant  of  all.  For  even  the  Son  of  Man 
came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give 
his  life  a  ransom  for  many."  ^  The  teaching  elder  holds  the 
most  honorable  position  in  the  Church,  simply  because  his 
office  is  the  most  laborious,  the  most  responsible,  and  the  most 
useful.  And  no  minister  of  the  Word  is  warranted  to  exercise 
lordship  over  his  brethren,  for  all  are  equally  the  servants  of 
the  same  Divine  Master.  He  is  the  greatest  who  is  most  will- 
ing to  humble  himself,  to  spend,  and  to  be  spent,  that  Christ 
may  be  exalted.  Even  the  Son  of  Man  came,  not  to  be  min- 
istered unto,  but  to  minister;  it  was  His  meat  and  His  drink 
to  do  the  will  of  His  Father  in  heaven  ;  He  was  ready  to  give 
instruction  to  many  or  to  few  ;  at  the  sea  or  by  the  wayside ; 
in  the  house,  the  synagogue,  or  the  corn-field  ;  on  the  mount- 
ain or  in  the  desert;  when  sitting  in  the  company  of  publicans, 
or  when  He  had  not  where  to  lay  His  head.  He  who  exhibits 
most  of  the  spirit  and  character  of  the  Great  Teacher  is  the 
most  illustrious  of  Christ's  ministers. 

The  primitive  Church  was  pre-eminently  a  free  society; 
and,  with  a  view  to  united  action,  its  members  were  taught 

'  Homer,  "  Iliad,"  ii.  v.  156.  '  Mark  x.  42-45. 


ELECTION   BY   THE   PEOPLE.  219 

to  consult  together  respecting  all  matters  of  common  interest. 
Whilst  the  elders  were  required  to  beware  attempting  to 
domineer  over  each  other,  they  were  also  warned  against  de- 
porting themselves  as  "  lords  over  God's  heritage."  '  All  were 
instructed  to  be  courteous,  forbearing,  and  conciliatory;  and 
each  individual  was  made  to  understand  that  he  possessed  some 
importance.  Though  the  apostles,  as  inspired  rulers  of  the 
Christian  commonwealth,  might  have  done  many  things  on 
their  own  authority  ;  yet,  even  in  concerns  comparatively  triv- 
ial, as  well  as  in  affairs  of  the  greatest  consequence,  they  were 
guided  by  the  wishes  of  the  people.  When  an  apostle  was  to 
be  chosen  in  the  place  of  Judas,  the  multitude  were  consulted.* 
When  deputies  were  required  to  accompany  Paul  in  a  journey 
to  be  undertaken  for  the  public  service,  the  apostle  did  not 
himself  select  his  fellow-travellers,  but  the  churches  concerned, 
proceeded,  by  a  regular  vote,  to  make  the  appointment.^ 
When  deacons  or  elders  were  to  be  nominated,  the  choice 
rested  with  the  congregation.^  The  records  of  the  apostolic  age 
do  not  mention  any  ordinary  church  functionary  who  was  not 
called  to  his  office  by  popular  suffrage. "^ 

But  though,  in  apostolic  times,  the  laity  were  thus  freely 
intrusted  with  the  elective  franchise,  the  constitution  of  the 
primitive  Church  was  not  purely  democratic ;  for  as  its  office- 
bearers were  elected  for  life,  and  as  its  elders  or  bishops  formed 
a  speoies  of  spiritual  aristocracy,  the  powers  of  the  people  and 
the  rulers  were  so  balanced  as  to  check  each  other's  aberra- 
tions, and  to  promote  the  healthful  action  of  all  parts  of  the 
ecclesiastical  body.  When  a  deacon  or  a  bishop  was  elected, 
he  was  not  permitted,  without  farther  ceremony,  to  enter  up- 
on the  duties  of  his  vocation.  He  was  bound  to  submit  him- 
self to  the  presbytery,  that  they  might  ratify  the  choice  by 
ordination  ;  and  this  court,  by  refusing  the  imposition  of  hands, 

*  I  Pet.  V.  3.  ''Acts  i.  15,  21-23,  26. 
'2  Cor.  viii.  19,  23,     See  also  i  Cor.  xvi.  3. 

*  Acts  vi.  3,  xiv.  23.     See  also  i  Tim.  iii.  10,  compared  with  i  John  iv.  i. 

^  Clemens  Romanus  states  that,  in  the  apostolic  age,  ecclesiastical  appoint- 
ments were  made  "  with  the  approbation  of  the  whole  church."  "  Epist.  to 
Corinthians,"  §44. 


220  ORDINATION   BY   THE   PRESBYTERY. 

could  protect  the  Church  against  the  intrusion  of  incompetent 
or  unworthy  candidates.' 

Among  the  Jews  every  ordained  elder  was  considered 
qualified  to  join  in  the  ordination  of  others.''  The  same  princi- 
ple was  acknowledged  in  the  early  Christian  Church  ;  and 
when  any  functionary  was  elected,  he  was  introduced  to  his 
ofifice  by  the  presbytery  of  the  city  or  district  with  which  he 
was  connected.  There  is  no  instance  in  the  apostolic  age  in 
which  ordination  was  conferred  by'a  single  individual.  Paul 
and  Barnabas  were  separated  to  the  work  to  which  the  Lord 
had  called  them  by  the  ministers  of  Antioch ;'  the  first  elders 
of  the  Christian  Churches  of  Asia  Minor  were  set  apart  by 
Paul  and  Barnabas;^  Timothy  was  invested  with  ecclesiastical 
authority  by  "  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery  "; ' 
and  even  the  seven  deacons  were  ordained  by  the  twelve  apos- 
tles acting,  for  the  time,  as  the  presbytery  of  Jerusalem." 

Toward  the  conclusion  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,'  Paul 
mentions  Phcebe,  "  a  servant  *  of  the  Church  which  is  at  Cen- 
chrea";  and  from  this  passage  some  have  inferred  that  the 
apostles  instituted  an  order  of  deaconesses.  We  can  not  well 
build  such  an  hypothesis  on  the  foundation  of  a  solitary  text 
of  doubtful  significance.  It  may  be  that  Phcebe  was  one  of 
the  poor  widows  supported  by  the  Church  ;  °  and  that,  as  such, 
she  was  employed  by  the  elders  in  various  little  services  of  a 
confidential  or  benevolent  character.  She  seems,  at  one  period, 
to  have  been  in  more  comfortable  circumstances,  and  she  had 
then  distinguished  herself  by  her  humane  and  obliging  dispo- 
sition ;  for  Paul  refers  apparently  to  this  portion  of  her  history, 

'Acts  vi.  6;  i  Tim.  v.  22. 

'See  Selden,  "  De  Synedriis,"  lib.  i.  c.  14. 

•Acts  xiii.  1-3.  *Acts  xiv.  23. 

*  I  Tim.  iv.  14.  That  the  preposition  ^crd  here  indicates  the  instrumental 
cause,  see  Acts  xiii.  17,  xiv.  27. 

°  Acts  vi.  6.  Some  have  thought  it  strange  that  Paul  gives  no  instructions 
to  Titus  respecting  the  ordination  of  deacons  in  Crete.  See  Titus  i.  8.  This 
was  unnecessary,  as  the  eiders,  when  ordained,  could  afterward  ordain 
deacons, 

'  Rom.  xvi.  I.  *  diciKovov.  "  I  Tim.  v.  3,  4,  9. 


EVERY   CHURCH   MEMBER    USEFUL.  221 

when  he  says,  "she  hath  been  a   succorer  of  many,  and  of 
myself  also." ' 

In  the  primitive  age  all  the  members  of  the  Church  were 
closely  associated.  As  brethren  and  sisters  in  the  faith  they 
took  a  deep  interest  in  each  other's  prosperity;  and  they  re- 
garded the  af^ictions  of  any  disciple  as  a  calamity  which  had 
befallen  the  society.  Each  individual  was  expected  in  some 
way  to  contribute  to  the  well-being  of  all.  Even  humble 
Phoebe  was  the  bearer  of  an  apostolic  letter  to  the  Romans ; 
and,  on  her  return  to  Cenchrea,  she  could  exert  a  healthful  in- 
fluence among  the  female  disciples  by  her  advice,  her  exam- 
ple, and  her  prayers.  The  industrious  scribe  rendered  good 
service  to  the  brotherhood  by  writing  out  copies  of  the  gos- 
pels or  epistles ;  and  the  pleasant  singer,  as  he  joined  in  the 
holy  psalm,  thrilled  the  hearts  of  the  faithful  by  his  notes  of 
grave  sweet  melody.  By  establishing  a  plurality  of  both  el- 
ders and  deacons  in  every  worshipping  society,  the  apostles 
provided  more  efificiently,  as  well  for  its  temporal  as  for  its 
spiritual  interests;  and  the  most  useful  members  of  the  con- 
gregation were  thus  put  into  positions  in  which  their  various 
graces  and  endowments  were  better  exhibited  and  exercised. 
One  deacon  attested  his  fitness  for  his  office  by  his  delicate 
attentions  to  the  sick,  another  by  his  considerate  kindness  to 
the  poor,  and  another  by  his  judicious  treatment  of  the  indo- 
lent, the  insincere,  and  the  improvident.  One  elder  excelled 
as  an  awakening  preacher,  another  as  a  sound  expositor,  and 
another  as  a  sagacious  counsellor;  whilst  another  still,  who 
never  ventured  to  address  the  congregation,  and  whose  voice 
was  seldom  heard  at  the  meetings  of  the  eldership,  visited  the 
house  of  mourning  or  the  chamber  of  disease,  and  there  poured 
forth  the  fulness  of  his  heart  in  most  appropriate  and  impres- 
sive supplications.  Every  one  was  taught  to  appreciate  the 
talents  of  his  neighbor,  and  to  feel  that  he  was,  to  some  ex- 
tent, dependent  on  others  for  his  own  edification.  The 
preaching  elder  could  not  say  to  the  ruling  elders,  "  I  have 
no  need  of  you  ";  neither  could  the  elders  say  to  the  deacons, 

'  Rom.  xvi.  2. 


222  EVERY   CHURCH    MEMBER   USEFUL. 

"  We  have  no  need  of  you."  When  the  sweet  singer  was  ab- 
sent, every  one  admitted  that  the  congregational  music  was 
less  interesting ;  when  the  skilful  penman  removed  to  another 
district,  the  Church  soon  began  to  complain  of  a  scarcity  of 
copies  of  the  sacred  manuscripts ;  and  even  when  the  pious 
widow  died  in  a  good  old  age,  the  blank  was  visible,  and  the 
loss  of  a  faithful  servant  of  the  Church  was  acknowledged  and 
deplored.  "  As  the  body  is  one  and  hath  many  members,  and 
all  the  members  of  that  one  body,  being  many,  are  one  body, 
so  also  is  Christ.  And  the  eye  can  not  say  unto  the  hand,  I 
have  no  need  of  thee :  nor  again  the  head  to  the  feet,  I  have 
no  need  of  you.  ■  And  whether  one  member  suffer,  all  the 
members  suffer  with  it ;  or  one  member  be  honored,  all  the 
members  rejoice  with  it."  ' 

'  I  Cor.  xii.  12,  21,  26. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   ORGANIZATION   OF   THE   APOSTOLIC   CHURCH. 

The  Israelites  were  emphatically  "a  peculiar  people." 
Though  amounting  in  the  days  of  our  Lord  to  several  mil- 
lions of  individuals,  they  were  all  the  lineal  descendants  of 
Abraham  ;  and  though  two  thousand  years  had  passed  away 
since  the  time  of  their  great  progenitor,  they  had  not  inter- 
mingled, to  any  considerable  extent,  with  the  rest  of  the  hu- 
man family.  The  bulk  of  the  nation  still  occupied  the  land 
granted  by  promise  to  the  "father  of  the  faithful";  the  same 
farms  had  been  held  by  the  same  families  from  age  to  age ; 
and  probably  some  of  the  proprietors  could  boast  that  their 
ancestors,  fifteen  hundred  years  before,  had  taken  possession 
of  the  very  fields  they  now  cultivated.  They  had  all  one  form 
of  worship,  one  high-priest,  and  one  place  of  sacrifice.  At 
stated  seasons  every  year  all  the  males  of  a  certain  age  were 
required  to  meet  together  at  Jerusalem,  and  thus  a  full  repre- 
sentation of  the  whole  race  was  frequently  collected  in  one 
great  congregation. 

The  written  law  of  Moses  was  the  sacred  bond  which  united 
so  closely  the  Church  of  Israel.  The  ritual  observances  of  the 
Hebrews,  which  had  all  a  typical  meaning,  are  described  by 
the  inspired  lawgiver  with  singular  minuteness ;  and  any  devi- 
ation from  them  was  forbidden,  not  only  because  it  involved 
an  impeachment  either  of  the  authority  or  the  wisdom  of  Je- 
hovah, but  also  because  it  was  calculated  to  mar  their  signifi- 
cance. Under  the  Mosaic  economy,  the  posterity  of  Abra- 
ham were  taught  to  regard  each  other  as  members  of  the  same 
family ;  interested,  as  joint  heirs,  in  the  blessings  promised  to 
their  distinguished  ancestor.      The    Israelites  were   knit    to- 

(223) 


224 


MEANING   OF   THE   WORD   "CHURCH.' 


gether  by  innumerable  ties,  as  well  secular  as  religious ;  and, 
when  they  appeared  in  one  multitudinous  assemblage  on  oc- 
casions of  peculiar  solemnity/  they  presented  a  specimen  of 
ecclesiastical  unity  such  as  the  world  has  never  since  contem- 
plated. 

Some,  however,  have  contended  that  the  Christian  com- 
munity was  originally  constructed  upon  very  different  princi- 
ples. According  to  them  the  word  chnrcJi''  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  always  used  in  one  of  two  senses — either  as  denoting 
a  single  worshipping  society,  or  the  whole  commonwealth  of 
the  faithful ;  and  from  this  they  infer  that,  in  primitive  times, 
every  Christian  congregation  was  independent  of  every  other. 
But  such  allegations,  which  are  exceedingly  improbable  in 
themselves,  are  found,  when  carefully  investigated,  to  be  to- 
tally destitute  of  foundation.  The  Church  of  Jerusalem,' 
with  the  tens  of  thousands  of  individuals  belonging  to  it,* 
must  have  consisted  of  several  congregations ;  '  the  Church  of 
Antioch,  to  which  so  many  prophets  and  teachers  ministered,* 
was  in  a  similar  position;  and  the  Church  of  Palestine'  com- 
prehended a  large  number  of  associated  churches.  When  our 
Saviour  prayed  that  all  His  people  "may  be  one,"'  He  indi- 
cated that  the  unity  of  the  Church,  so  strikingly  exhibited  in 

'  Such  as  we  find  described  in  Deut.  xxxi.  10-12. 

"  In  Greek,  inKlrics'ia.  The  reference  in  the  text  is  to  its  ecclesiastical  use, 
for  in  the  New  Testament  it  sometimes  signifies  a  mob.     See  Acts  xix.  32. 

*  Acts  xi.  22,  XV.  4. 

*  Acts  Axi.  20,  77(i(Ta«  nvpilnVq — literally,  "  how  many  tens  of  thousands." 

*  One  of  these  is  mentioned  Acts  xii.  12.  °  Acts  xiii.  I. 

'  Acts  ix.  31.  The  true  reading  here  is,  "Then  had  the  church  {iKKArjaia) 
rest  throughout  all  Judca  and  Galilee  and  Samaria."  This  reading  is  sup- 
ported by  the  most  ancient  manuscripts,  including  ABC  and  the  Codex 
Sinaiticus;  by  the  Vulgate,  and  nearly  al!  the  ancient  versions,  including 
the  old  Syriac,  Coptic,  Sahidic,  Ethiopian,  Arabic  of  Ei-penius,  and  Ar- 
menian ;  and  by  the  most  distinguished  critics,  such  as  Bengel,  Kuinoel. 
Lachmann,  Tischendorf,  Alford,  and  Tregelles.  It  is  likewise  sustained  by 
the  authority  of  by  far  the  most  valuable  cursive  MS.  in  existence.  See 
Scrivener's  "Codex  Augiensis,"  Introd.  Ixviii.  and  p.  425.  Cambridge, 
1859.  See  another  case  mentioned  in  the  note  2,  p.  72  of  this  volume,  in 
which  "  the  church  "  means  "  the  apostles  and  elders." 

"John  xvii.  21. 


CONGREGATIONS   NOT   INDEPENDENT.  22$ 

the  nation  of  Israel,  should  still  be  studied  and  maintained  ; 
and  when  Paul  describes  the  household  of  faith,  he  speaks  of 
it,  not  as  a  loose  mass  of  independent  congregations,  but  as  a 
"body  f\t\y  joined  together  and  compacted  by  that  which  every 
Joint  supplieth,"  '  The  apostle  here  refers  to  the  vital  union 
of  believers  by  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  but  he  al- 
ludes also  to  those  ''  bands "  of  outward  ordinances,  and 
"joints""  of  visible  confederation,  by  which  their  commun- 
ion is  upheld;  for,  were  the  Church  split  into  an  indefinite 
number  of  insulated  congregations,  even  the  unity,  of  the 
spirit  could  neither  be  distinctly  ascertained  nor  properly  cul- 
tivated. When  influenced  by  the  spirit  of  Divine  Love,  the 
machinery  of  the  Church  moves  in  admirable  harmony  and 
accomplishes  the  most  astonishing  results ;  but,  when  per- 
vaded by  another  spirit,  it  is  strained  and  dislocated,  and  in 
danger  of  dashing  itself  to  pieces. 

Those  who  hold  that  every  congregation,  however  small,  is 
a  complete  church  in  itself,  are  quite  unable  to  explain  why 
the  system  of  ecclesiastical  organization  should  be  thus  cir- 
cumscribed. The  New  Testament  inculcates  the  unity  of  all 
the  faithful,  as  well  as  the  unity  of  particular  societies  ;  and 
the  same  principle  of  Christian  brotherhood  which  proitipts  a 
number  of  individuals  to  meet  together  for  religious  fellowship, 
should  also  lead  a  number  of  congregations  in  the  same  lo- 
cality to  fraternize.  The  Twelve  may  be  regarded  as  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  doctrine  of  ecclesiastical  confederation,  for, 
though  they  were  commanded  to  go  into  all  the  world,  and  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  yet,  as  long  as  circum- 
stances permitted,  they  continued  to  co-operate.  "  When  the 
apostles  which  were  at  Jerusalem  heard  that  Samaria  had  re- 
ceived the  word  of  God,  they  sent  unto  them  Peter  and  John  'V 
and,  at  a  subsequent  period,  they  concurred  in  sending  ''forth 
Barnabas,  that  he  should  go  as  far  as  Antioch."  *     These  facts 

'  Eph.  iv.  i6.  "^  See  Col.  ii.  19.  '  Acts  viii.  14. 

■*  Acts  xi.  22.     "  No  notion  is  more  at  variance  with  the  spirit  of  apostolic 
Christianity  than  that  of  societies  of  Christians  existing  in  the  same  neigh- 
borhood, but  not  in  communion  with  each  other,  and  not  under  a  common 
government." — Litton^  p.  450. 
IS 


226  THE    GREAT   SANHEDRIM. 

distinctly  prove  that  they  had  a  common  interest  in  everything 
pertaining  to  the  well-being  of  the  whole  Christian  common- 
wealth ;  and  that,  like  Paul,  they  were  intrusted  with  "  the  care 
of  all  the  churches."  Nor  did  the  early  Christian  congrega- 
tions act  independently.  They  believed  that  union  is  strength, 
and  they  were  "  knit  together  "  in  ecclesiastical  relationship. 
Hence  we  read  of  the  brother  who  was  "  chosen  of  the 
churches  "  '  to  travel  with  the  Apostle  Paul.  It  is  now  impos- 
sible to  determine  in  what  way  this  choice  was  made — whether 
at  a  general  meeting  of  deputies  from  different  congregations, 
or  by  a  separate  vote  in  each  particular  society — but,  in  what- 
ever way  the  election  was  accomplished,  the  appointment  of 
one  representative  for  several  churches  was  itself  a  recognition 
of  their  ecclesiastical  unity. 

We  have  seen  that  the  worship  of  the  Church  was  much  the 
same  as  the  worship  of  the  synagogue,"  and  it  would  appear 
that  its  polity  also  was  borrowed  from  the  institutions  of  the 
chosen  people.'  Every  Jewish  congregation  was  governed  by 
a  bench  of  elders,  and  in  every  city  there  was  a  smaller  sanhe- 
drim, or  presbytery,  consisting  of  twenty-three  members,*  to 
which  the  neighboring  synagogues  were  subject.  Jerusalem 
had  two  of  these  smaller  sanhedrims,  as  it  was  found  that  the 
multitudes  of  cases  arising  among  so  vast  a  population  were 
more  than  sufficient  to  occupy  the  time  of  any  one  judicatory. 
Appeals  lay  from  all  these  tribunals  to  the  Great  Sanhedrim, 
or  "  Council,"  so  frequently  mentioned  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment." This  court  consisted  of  seventy  or  seventy-two  mem- 
bers, made  up,  perhaps,  in  equal  portions,  of  chief   priests, 

'  2  Cor.  viii.  19.  '  Period  i.,  sec.  iii.,  chop,  i.,  p.  191. 

^"That  the  Church  did  really  derive  its  polity  from  the  synagogue  is  a 
fact  upon  the  proof  of  which,  in  the  present  state  of  theological  learning,  it 
is  needless  to  expend  many  words." — Litton  s  Church  cf  Christ,  p.  254. 

*  See  Selden,  "  De  Synedriis,"  lib.  ii.,  c.  5  ;  Lightfoot's  "Works,"  iii.  242, 
and  xi.  179.  Josephus  says  that  Moses  appointed  only  seven  judges  in 
every  city.  "  Antiq."  book  iv.,  c.  8,  §  14.  See,  also,  "  Wars  of  the  Jews,' 
ii.,  c.  20,  §  5. 

'  Luke  xxii.  66  ;  Acts  v.  21,  vi.  15.  See,  also,  Prideaux,  part  ii.,  book  vii., 
and  Lightfoot's  "  Works,"  ix.  342. 


THE   GREAT   SANHEDRIM.  22/ 

scfibes,  and  elders  of  the  people.'  The  chief  priests  were  prob- 
ably twenty-four  in  number — each  of  the  twenty-four  courses, 
into  which  the  sacerdotal  order  was  divided,^  thus  furnish- 
ing one  representative.  The  scribes  were  the  men  of  learning, 
like  Gamaliel,'  who  had  devoted  themselves  to  the  study  of 
the  Jewish  law,  and  who  possessed  recondite,  as  well  as 
extensive  information.  The  elders  were  laymen  of  reputed 
wisdom  and  experience,  who,  in  practical  matters,  were  ex- 
pected to  give  sound  advice."  It  was  not  strange  that  the 
Jews  had  so  profound  a  regard  for  their  Great  Sanhedrim.  Tn 
the  days  of  our  Lord  and  His  apostles  it  had,  indeed,  miser- 
ably degenerated  ;  but,  at  an  earlier  period,  its  members  were 
eminently  entitled  to  respect,  as  in  point  of  intelligence,  pru- 
dence, piety,  and  patriotism,  they  held  the  very  highest  place 
among  their  countrymen. 

The  details  of  the  ecclesiastical  polity  of  the  ancient  Israel- 
ites are  involved  in  much  obscurity  ;  but  the  preceding  state- 
ments may  be  received  as  a  pretty  accurate  description  of  its 
chief  outlines.  Our  Lord  himself,  in  the  sermon  on  the 
mount,  refers  to  the  great  council  and  its  subordinate  judica- 
tories ;  *  and,  in  the  Old  Testament,  appeals  from  inferior  tri- 
bunals to  the  authorities  in  the  holy  city  are  explicitly  en- 
joined.' All  the  synagogues,  not  only  in  Palestine,  but  in 
foreign  countries,  obeyed  the  orders  of  the  Sanhedrim  at  Je- 
rusalem ; '  and  it  constituted  a  court  of  review  to  which  all 
other  ecclesiastical  arbiters  yielded  submission. 

In  the  government  of  the  Apostolic  Church  we  may  trace  a 
resemblance  to  these  arrangements.  Every  Christian  congre- 
gation, like  every  synagogue,  had  its  elders ;  and  every  city 
had  its  presbytery,  consisting  of  the  spiritual  rulers  of  the  dis- 
trict. In  the  introductory  chapters  of  the  book  of  the  Acts  we 
discover  the  germ  of  this  ecclesiastical  constitution ;  for  we 

'  '  Matt.  xvi.  21,  xxvi.  59;  Mark  xv.  I.  See,  also,  Lightfoot's  "Works," 
iv.  223. 

'  I  Chron.  xxiv.  4,  7-18.  ^Acts  v.  34, 

*  As  they  represented  the  people,  and  were  probably  twenty-four  in  num- 
ber, there  may  be  a  reference  to  them  in  Rev.  iv.  4. 

''Matt.  V.  22.  "  Deut.  xvii.  8-10  ;  2  Chron.  xix.  8-1 1  ;  Ps.  cxxij.  5. 

'  Acts  ix.  I,  2,  14. 


228  THE   PRESBYTERY. 

there  find  the  apostles  ministering  to  thousands  of  converts, 
and,  as  the  presbytery  of  Jerusalem,  ordaining  deacons,  exer- 
cising discipline,  and  sending  out  missionaries.'  The  prophets 
and  teachers  of  Antioch  performed  the  same  functions  ;'  Titus 
was  instructed  to  have  elders  established,  or  a  presbyter}'  con- 
stituted, in  every  city  of  Crete ;'  and  Timothy  was  ordained  by 
such  a  judicatory."  For  the  first  thirty  years  after  the  death 
of  our  Lord  a  large  proportion  of  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
were  Jews  by  birth,  and  as  they  were  in  the  habit  of  going  up 
to  Jerusalem  to  celebrate. the  great  festivals,  they  appear  to 
have  taken  advantage  of  the  opportunity,  and  to  have  held 
meetings  in  the  holy  city  for  consultation  respecting  the  af- 
fairs of  the  Christian  commonwealth.  Prudence  and  conven- 
ience conspired  to  dictate  this  course,  as  they  could  then 
reckon  upon  finding  there  a  considerable  number  of  able  and 
experienced  elders,  and  as  their  presence  in  the  Jewish  metropo- 
lis on  such  occasions  was  fitted  to  awaken  no  suspicion.^ 

We  thus  see  that  the  transaction  mentioned  in  the  15th 
chapter  of  the  Acts  admits  of  a  simple  and  satisfactory  ex- 
planation. When  the  question  respecting  the  circumcision  of 
the  Gentile  converts  began  to  be  discussed  at  Antioch,  there 
were  individuals  in  that  city  as  well  qualified  as  any  in  Jeru- 
salem to  pronounce  upon  its  merits  ;  for  the  Church  there  en- 
joyed the  ministry  of  prophets ;  and  Paul,  its  most  distin- 
guished teacher,  was  "  not  a  whit  behind  the  very  chiefest 
apostles."  But  the  parties  proceeded  in  the  matter  in  much 
the  same  way  as  Israelites  were  accustomed  to  act  under 
similar  circumstances.  Had  a  controversy  relative  to  any 
Mosaic  ceremony  divided  the  Jewish  population  of  Antioch, 
they  would  have  appealed  for  a  decision  to  their  Great  San- 
hedrim ;  and  when  this  dispute  distracted  the  Christians  of  the 
capital  of  Syria,  they  had  recourse  to  another  tribunal  at  Jeru- 
salem which   they  considered   competent   to  pronounce  a  de- 

'  Acts  ii.  14,  41,  42,  iv.  4,  32,  33,  35,  V.  14,  42,  vi.  6,  7,  viii.  14. 

'  Acts  xiii.  1,3.  ^  Titus  i.  5.  *  i  Tim.  iv.  14. 

'  In  the  same  way  the  Puritans,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  frequently 
held  meetings  in  London  during  the  sittings  of  Parliament.  See  Collier, 
vii.  33,  64. 


THE   COUNCIL   OF  JERUSALEM.  229 

liverance.'  This  tribunal  consisted  virtually  of  the  rulers  of  the 
universal  Church ;  for  the  apostles,  who  had  a  commission  to 
all  the  world,  and  elders  from  almost  every  place  where  a 
Christian  congregation  existed,  were  in  the  habit  of  repairing 
to  the  capital  of  Palestine.  In  one  respect  this  judicatory 
differed  from  the  Jewish  council,  for  it  was  not  limited  to 
seventy  members.  In  accordance  with  the  free  spirit  of  the 
Gospel  dispensation,  it  consisted  of  as  many  ecclesiastical 
rulers  as  could  conveniently  attend  its  meetings.  But  the 
times  were  perilous  ;  and  the  minivers  of  the  early  Christian 
Church  did  not  deem  it  expedient  to  congregate  in  very  large 
numbers. 

A  single  Scripture  precedent  for  the  regulation  of  the 
Church  is  as  decisive  as  a  multitude  ;  and  though  the  New 
Testament  distinctly  records  only  one  instance "  in  which  a 
question  of  difficulty  was  referred  by  a  lower  to  a  higher  eccle- 
siastical tribunal,  this  case  sufificiently  illustrates  the  character 
of  the  primitive  polity.  A  very  substantial  reason  can  be 
given  why  Scripture  takes  so  little  notice  of  the  meetings  of 
Christian  judicatories.  The  different  portions  of  the  New 
Testament  were  put  into  circulation  as  soon  as  written  ;  and 
though  it  was  most  important  that  the  heathen  should  be 
made  acquainted  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  it  was  not 
by  any  means  expedient  that  their  attention  should  be  par- 
ticularly directed  to  the  machinery  by  which  it  was  regulated. 
An  accurate  knowledge  of  its  constitution  must  have  exposed 
it  more  fearfully  to  the  attacks  of  persecuting  Emperors. 
Every  effort  would  have  been  made  to  discover  the  times  and 
places  of  the  meetings  of  pastors  and  teachers,  and  to  inflict 

'  For  a  more  particular  account  of  the  constitution  of  the  meeting  men- 
tioned in  the  15th  chapter  of  the  Acts,  see  Period  i.,  sec.  i.,  chap,  v.,  p.  72. 

^  We  read  in  Acts  xxi.  18,  of  another  meeting  of  elders  at  Jerusalem  at 
the  time  of  one  of  the  great  festivals.  See  Acts  xx.  16.  Eusebius  tells  ("  Ecc. 
Hist."  iii.  II)  how  the  surviving  apostles  and  disciples  "from  all  parts" 
met  at  Jerusalem  after  its  destruction  by  Titus,  and  appointed  Simeon  to 
preside  over  the  Church  there.  The  story,  though  garbled,  probably  rests 
on  some  basis  of  truth,  as  a  meeting  of  apostles  and  elders,  in  all  likeli' 
hood,  may  have  occurred  about  the  time  mentioned. 


230  APOSTLES   AND   ELDERS   SIT   TOGETHER. 

a  deadly  wound  on  the  Church  by  the  destruction  of  its  office- 
bearers. Hence,  in  general,  its  courts  assembled  privately; 
and  thus  it  is  that,  for  the  first  three  centuries,  so  little  is 
known  of  the  proceedings  of  these  conventions. 

In  the  first  century,  when  the  rulers  of  the  Church  met  for 
consultation,  they  all  sat  in  the  same  assembly.  When  the 
ecclesiastical  constitution  was  fairly  settled,  even  the  Twelve 
were  disposed  to  waive  their  personal  claims  to  precedence, 
and  to  assume  the  status  of  ordinary  ministers.  We  find, 
accordingly,  that  there  were  then  no  higher  and  lower  houses 
of  convocation  ;  for  "  the  apostles  and  elders  came  together."  ' 
Some  who  suppose  that  the  James  mentioned  in  Acts  xv.  13 
was  the  first  bishop  of  the  holy  city,  imagine  that  in  his 
manner  of  giving  the  advice  adopted  at  the  Synod  of  Jerusa- 
lem, they  can  detect  marks  of  his  prelatic  influence.''  But  the 
sacred  narrative,  when  candidly  interpreted,  merely  shows  that 
he  acted  on  the  occasion  as  a  judicious  counsellor.  He  was, 
assuredly,  not  entitled  to  dictate  to  Paul  or  Peter.  The  rea- 
soning of  those  who  maintain  that,  as  a  matter  of  right,  he 
expected  the  meeting  to  yield  to  the  weight  of  his  official  au- 
thority, proves,  not  that  he  was  bishop  of  the  Jewish  capital, 
but  that  he  was  the  prince  of  the  apostles. 

The  New  Testament  history  speaks  frequently  of  James, 
the  brother  of  John,  and  extends  over  the  whole  period  of 
his  public  career  ;  but  it  never  once  hints  that  he  was  bishop 
of  Jerusalem.  The  James  who  has  left  behind  him  an  epistle 
addressed  "  to  the  twelve  tribes  scattered  abroad,"  and  who  by 
some  has  been  identified  as  our  Lord's  brother,  makes  no 
allusion  to  his  possession  of  any  such  office.  Paul,  who  often 
visited  the  mother  Church  during  the  time  of  this  alleged 

'  Acts  XV.  6. 

"  Acts  XV.  19.  "James,  according  to  the  somewhat  pompous  rendering  in 
our  English  version,  says,  '  Wherefore  tny  sentence  is  ' — in  the  original — 
du)  lyi.,  Kfiiyci — a  common  formula  by  which  the  members  of  the  Greek  as- 
semblies introduced  the  expression  of  their  individual  opinion,  as  appears 
from  its  repeated  occurrence  in  Thucydides,  with  which  may  be  compared 
the  corresponding  Latin  phrase  (sic  censed)  of  frequent  use  in  Cicero's 
orations." — Alexander  on  the  Acts,  ii.,  p.  83. 


WHY   JAMES   WAS   SETTLED   AT   JERUSALEM.  23 1 

episcopate,  is  equally  silent  upon  the  subject.  But  it  is  easy 
to  understand  how  the  story  originated.  The  command  to 
the  apostles,  "  Go  ye  unto  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature,"  '  did  not  imply  that  their  countrymen  at 
home  were  not  to  enjoy  a  portion  of  their  ministrations ;  and 
it  may  have  been  considered  expedient  that  a  minister  of 
great  weight  of  character  should  reside  in  the  Jewish  capital. 
This  field  of  exertion  may  have  been  assigned  to  James,  the 
brother  of  John.  Others  travelled  to  distant  countries,  to 
disseminate  the  truth  ;  and  as  after  the  martyrdom  mentioned 
in  Acts  xii.  2,  James,  the  Lord's  brother,  was  probably  the 
most  influential  individual  who  could  ordinarily  be  consulted 
in  the  holy  city,  he  soon  became  the  ruling  spirit  among  the 
Christians  of  that  crowded  metropolis.  In  all  cases  of  im- 
portance and  of  difficulty  his  advice  was  sought  and  appreci- 
ated ;  and  his  age,  experience,  and  rank  as  the  near  relative  of 
our  Lord,"  suggested  the  propriety  of  his  appointment  as 
president  of  any  ecclesiastical  meeting  he  attended.  The 
precedence  thus  so  generally  conceded  to  him  was  remember- 
ed in  after-times  when  the  hierarchical  spirit  began  to  domi- 
nate ;  and  afforded  a  basis  for  the  legend  that  he  was  the  first 
bishop  of  Jerusalem.  And  as  he  commonly  occupied  the 
chair  when  the  rulers  of  the  Church  assembled  there  at  the 
annual  festivals,  we  see  too  why  he  is  also  called  "  bishop  of 
bishops  "  in  documents  of  high  antiquity.' 

During  a  considerable  part  of  the  first  century  Jerusalem 
contained  a  much  greater  number  of  disciples  than  any  other 
city  in  the  Roman  Empire  ;  and  until  shortly  before  its  de- 
struction by  Titus  in  A.D.  70,  it  continued  to  be  the  centre  of 
Christian  influence.     For  some  time  all  matters  in  dispute 

'  Mark  xvi.  15. 

'^  The  James,  who  is  called  an  apostle,  who  in  after-times  was  represented 
as  the  first  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  and  who  in  Galatians  i.  19  is  styled  "the 
Lord's  brother,"  was  probably  not  one  of  the  Twelve.  His  conversion  ap- 
pears to  have  taken  place  about  the  time  of  the  resurrection.  See  before 
P-33- 

^  See  the  spurious  epistle  of  Clement  to  James,  prefixed  to  the  Clemen- 
tine Homilies.     Cotelerius,  "  Pat.  Apost.,"  vol.  i.,  p.  617. 


232  ASSEMBLY   OF   ELDERS   AT   MILETUS. 

throughout  the  Church,  which  could  not  be  settled  by  inferior 
judicatories,  were  decided  by  the  apostles  and  elders  there 
convened.  But  the  rapid  propagation  of  Christianity,  the 
rise  of  persecution,  and  the  progress  of  political  events,  soon 
rendered  such  procedure  inconvenient,  if  not  impracticable. 
Persons  of  Gentile  extraction  in  distant  lands,  and  in  humble 
circumstances,  could  not  be  expected  to  travel  for  redress  of 
their  ecclesiastical  grievances  to  the  ancient  capital  of  Pales- 
tine; and,  when  the  temple  was  destroyed,  the  myriads  who 
had  formerly  repaired  to  it  to  celebrate  the  sacred  feasts  dis- 
continued their  attendance.  The  Christian  communities 
throughout  the  Empire  about  this  period  began  to  assume 
that  form  which  they  present  in  the  following  century,  the 
congregations  of  each  province  associating  together  for  their 
better  government  and  discipline.  There  are  not  wanting 
evidences,  as  we  shall  now  endeavor  to  show,  that  the  apostles 
themselves  suggested  the  arrangement. 

It  has  been  taken  for  granted  by  many  that  when  Paul, 
on  his  arrival  at  Miletus,  "  sent  to  Ephesus  and  called  the 
elders  of  the  Church,"  '  he  convoked  a  meeting  only  of  the 
ecclesiastical  rulers  of  the  chief  city  of  the  Proconsular  Asia. 
But  a  more  attentive  examination  of  the  passage  in  which  the 
transaction  is  described  may  lead  us  to  infer  that  the  Chris- 
tian elders  of  the  surrounding  district,  as  well  as  of  the  cap- 
ital, were  requested  to  meet  him  at  Miletus.  Such  a  conclu- 
sion is  sustained  by  the  reason  assigned  for  his  mode  of 
proceeding  at  this  juncture.  Ephesus  was  a  seaport  thirty 
miles  from  Miletus,  and  he  did  not  touch  at  it,  "  because  he 
would  not  spend  the  time  in  Asia,  for  he  hasted,  if  it  were  pos- 
sible for  him,  to  be  at  Jerusalem  the  day  of  Pentecost."' 
]^ut,  had  he  merely  wished  to  see  the  elders  of  this  provincial 
metropolis,  his  visit  to  it  need  have  created  no  delay,  for  he 
might  have  gone  to  it  as  quickly  as  the  messenger  who  was 
the  bearer  of  his  communication.  He  felt,  however,  that,  had 
he  appeared  there,  he  would  have  given  offence  had  he  not 
also  favored  the  Christian  communities  in  its  neighborhood 

'  Acts  XX.  17.  "Acts  XX.  16. 


CONSOCIATION   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHURCHES.  233 

with  his  presence ;  and  as  he  could  not  afford  to  stop  so  long 
in  Asia,  he  adopted  the  expedient  of  inviting  all  the  elders  of 
the  district  to  repair  to  the  place  where  he  now  sojourned/ 
From  Ephesus,  the  capital,  his  invitation  could  be  readily- 
transmitted  to  other  provincial  cities.  The  address  which  he 
delivered  to  the  assembled  elders  conveys  the  impression  that 
they  did  not  all  belong  to  the  metropolis,  and  its  very  first 
sentence  suggests  such  an  inference.  "  When  they  were  come 
to  him,  he  said  unto  them,  Ye  know  from  the  first  day  that  I 
came  into  Asia  after  what  manner  I  have  been  witli  you  at  all 
seasons." '  The  evangelist  informs  us  that  he  had  spent  only 
two  years  and  three  months  at  Ephesus,"  and  yet  he  here  tells 
his  audience  that  "  by  the  space  of  three  years  "  he  had  not 
ceased  to  warn  every  one  night  and  day  with  tears.*  He  says 
also,  "  I  know  that  ye  all  among  ivJioni  I  have  gone  preaching 
the  kingdom  of  God,  shall  see  my  face  no  more  " ' — thereby 
intimating  that  his  auditors  were  not  resident  in  one  locality. 
We  have  also  distinct  evidence  that  when  Paul  formerly  min- 
istered at  Ephesus,  there  were  Christian  societies  throughout 
the  province,  for  in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  written 
from  that  city,'  he  sends  his  correspondents  the  salutations  of 
"  the  Churches  of  Asia." '  These  Churches  must  have  been 
united  by  the  ties  of  Christian  fellowship ;  and  the  apostle 
was  in  close  communication  with  them  when  he  was  thus  em- 
ployed as  the  medium  of  conveyance  for  the  expression  of 
their  evangelical  attachment. 

In  other  parts  of  the  New  Testament  there  are  traces  of 
consociation  among  the  primitive  Churches.  Thus  Paul,  their 
founder,  sends  to  "  the  Churches  of  Galatia  "  ®  a  common  letter 
in  which  he  requires  them  to  "  serve  one  another,"  *  and  to 

'  The  view  here  taken  is  corroborated  by  the  authority  of  Irensus,  iii.,  c. 
14,  §  2  :  "  In  Mileto  enim  convocatis  episcopis  et  presbyteris,  qui  erant  ab 
Epheso,  et  a  reliquis  proximis  civitatibus,"  etc. 

"^  Acts  XX.  18.  3  Acts  xix.  8,  10.  ■*  Acts  xx.  31. 

^  Acts  XX.  25.  Demetrius  says  to  the  craftsmen  :  "  Ye  see  and  hear  that 
not  alone  at  Ephesus,  bict  almost  throughout  all  Asia,  this  Paul  hath  per- 
suaded and  turned  away  much  people."     Acts  xix.  26. 

®  See  Period  i.,  sec.  i.,  chap,  viii.,  p.  109.  '  i  Cor.  xvi.  19. 

«  Gal.  i.  2.  "  Gal.  v.  13. 


234  INTERCOURSE   BETWEEN   DISTANT   CHURCHES. 

"  bear  one  another's  burdens." '  Without  some  species  of 
united  action,  the  Galatians  could  not  well  have  obeyed  such 
admonitions.  Peter  also,  when  writing  to  the  disciples  "  scat- 
tered throughout  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and  Bithy- 
nia,"  '  represents  them  as  an  associated  body.  "  The  elders," 
says  he,  "  which  are  among  you  I  exhort,  who  am  also  an 
elder  ....  feed  the  flock  of  God  which  is  among  you,  taking 
the  oversight  thereof." '  This  "  flock  of  God,"  which  was 
evidently  equivalent  to  the  "  Church  of  God," "  was  spread 
over  a  large  territory ;  and  yet  the  apostle  suggests  that  the 
elders  were  conjointly  charged  with  its  supervision.  Had  the 
Churches  scattered  throughout  so  many  provinces  been  a 
multitude  of  independent  congregations,  Peter  would  not 
have  described  them  as  one  "  flock  "  of  which  these  rulers  had 
the  oversight. 

But,  though  the  elders  of  congregations  in  adjoining  prov- 
inces could  maintain  ecclesiastical  intercourse,  and  meet  at 
least  occasionally  or  by  delegates,  it  was  otherwise  with 
Churches  in  different  countries.  Even  these,  however,  culti- 
vated the  communion  of  saints  ;  for  they  corresponded  with 
each  other  by  letters  or  deputations.  The  attentive  reader  of 
the  inspired  epistles  may  observe  how  the  apostles  contrived 
to  keep  open  a  door  of  access  to  their  converts  by  means  of 
itinerating  preachers ;  ^  and  the  same  agency  was  continued  in 
succeeding  generations.  Disciples  travelling  into  strange 
lands  were  furnished  with  "  epistles  of  commendation  " '  to 

'  Gal.  vi.  2.  '  I  Pet.  i.  i.  '  i  Pet.  v.  i,  2. 

*  In  Acts  XX.  28,  these  designations  are  identical.  The  exhortation  in  I 
Pet.  V.  5 — "  Yea,  all  of  you  be  subject  one  to  another" — is  obviously  ad- 
dressed to  ministers,  and  implies  their  mutual  subordination.  This  com- 
mand can  be  acted  upon  only  by  ministers  who  are  confederated  and  who 
hold  the  same  ecclesiastical  status.  Lachmann  adopts  a  somewhat  differ- 
ent reading  of  this  verse  without  changing  the  sense,  for  he  puts  a  semi- 
period  after  n/'/if/mr,.  According  to  his  Larger  Edition  of  the  Greek  Testa- 
ment, the  commencement  of  the  verse  should  be  rendered  thus  :  "  Lii<ewise 
ye  younger  (presbyters)  submit  yourselves  unto  the  elder,  and  ALL  TO 
ONE  ANOTHER."  I  here  suppose  presbyters  to  be  understood,  as  the  apos- 
tle is  speaking  to  them  in  all  the  preceding  part  of  the  chapter. 

'  2  Cor.  viii.  5,  18,  22  ;  Phil.  ii.  25,  28  ;  Col.  iv.  7-9  ;  2  Tim.  iv.  9-12. 

•  2  Cor.  iii.  I. 


LETTERS   OF  COMMENDATION.  235 

the  foreign  Churches ;  and  Christian  teachers,  who  had  these 
credentials,  were  permitted  freely  to  officiate  in  the  congrega- 
tions which  they  visited.  During  the  Hves  of  the  apostles, 
there  were  preachers,  in  whom  they  had  no  confidence,  who 
were  yet  in  full  standing,  and  who  went  from  place  to  place 
addressing  apostolic  Churches.  Having  found  their  way  into 
the  ministry  in  a  particular  locality,  they  set  out  to  other 
regions  provided  with  their  "  letters  of  commendation  ";  and, 
on  the  strength  of  these  testimonials,  were  readily  recognized 
as  heralds  of  the  cross.  The  apostles  deemed  it  prudent  to 
advise  their  correspondents  not  to  rest  satisfied  with  the  cer- 
tificates of  these  itinerant  evangelists,  but  to  try  them  by  a 
more  certain  standard.  "  If  there  come  any  unto  you,"  says 
John,  *'  and  bring  not  this  doctrine^  receive  him  not  into  your 
house,  neither  bid  him  God-speed." ' — "  Beloved,  believe  not 
every  spirit,  but  try  the  spirits  whether  they  are  of  God,  be- 
cause many  false  prophets  are  gone  out  into  the  world." ' 
Strange  as  it  may  appear,  even  some  of  the  apostles  had  per- 
sonal enemies  among  the  primitive  preachers,  and  yet  when 
these  proclaimed  the  truth,  they  were  suffered  to  proceed 
without  interruption.  "  Some  indeed,"  says  Paul,  "  preach 
Christ  even  of  envy  and  strife  ;  and  some  also  of  good-will. 
The  one  preach  Christ  of  contention,  not  sincerely,  supposing 
to  add  affliction  to  my  bonds  ;  but  the  other  of  love,  knowing 
that  I  am  set  for  the  defence  of  the  Gospel.  What  then  ? 
notwithstanding  every  way,  whether  in  pretence  or  in  truth, 
Christ  is  preached  ;  and  I  therein  do  rejoice,  yea,  and  will 
rejoice." ' 

The  preceding  statements  enable  us  to  appreciate  the  unity 
of  the  Apostolic  Church.  This  unity  was  not  perfect  ;  for 
there  were  false  brethren  who  stirred  up  strife,  and  false  teach- 
ers who  fomented  divisions.  But  these  elements  of  discord 
no  more  disturbed  the  general  unity  of  the  Church  than  the 
presence  of  a  few  empty  or  blasted  ears  of  corn  affects  the 
productiveness  of  an  abundant  harvest.  As  a  body,  the  disci- 
ples of  Christ  were  never  so  united  as  in  the  first  century, 

'  2  John  10.  "^  I  John  iv.  i.  '  Phil.  i.  15-18. 


236  UNITY    OF   THE   APOSTOLIC   CHURCH. 

Heresy  had  yet  made  little  impression  ;  schism  was  scarcely 
known  ;  and  charity,  exerting  her  gentle  influence  with  the 
brotherhood,  found  it  comparatively  easy  to  keep  the  unity  of 
the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.  The  members  of  the  Church 
had  "  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism."  But  their  unity  was 
very  different  from  uniformity.  They  had  no  canonical  hours, 
no  clerical  costume,  no  liturgies.  The  prayers  of  ministers 
and  people  varied  according  to  circumstances,  and  were  dic- 
tated by  their  hopes  and  fears,  their  wants  and  sympathies. 
When  they  met  for  worship,  the  devotional  exercises  were 
conducted  in  a  language  intelligible  to  all ;  when  the  Script- 
ures were  read  in  their  assemblies,  every  one  heard  in  his  own 
tongue  the  wonderful  works  of  (jod.  The  unity  of  the  Apos- 
tolic Church  did  not  consist  in  its  subordination  to  any  one 
visible  head  or  supreme  pontiff ;  for  neither  Peter  nor  Paul, 
nor  James  nor  John  pretended  to  be  the  governor  of  the 
household  of  faith.  Its  unity  was  not  like  the  unity  of  a  jail 
where  all  the  prisoners  wear  the  same  dress,  and  receive  the 
same  rations,  and  dwell  in  cells  of  the  same  construction,  and 
submit  to  the  orders  of  the  same  keeper ;  but  like  the  unity 
of  a  cluster  of  stalks  of  corn,  all  springing  from  one  prolific 
grain,  and  all  rich  with  a  golden  produce.  Or  it  may  be 
likened  to  the  unity  of  the  ocean,  where  all  the  parts  are  not 
of  the  same  depth,  or  the  same  color,  or  the  same  tempera- 
ture ;  but  where  all,  pervaded  by  the  same  saline  preservative, 
ebb  and  flow  according  to  the  same  heavenly  laws,  and  concur 
in  bearing  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  the  blessings  of  civilization 
and  of  happiness. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  ANGELS  OF  THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES. 

The  Apocalypse  is  a  book  of  symbols.  The  light  which 
we  obtain  from  it  may  well  remind  us  of  the  instruction  com- 
municated to  the  Israelites  by  the  ceremonies  of  the  law. 
The  Mosaic  institutions  imparted  to  a  Jew  the  knowledge  of 
an  atonement  and  a  Saviour;  but  he  could  scarcely  have  un- 
dertaken to  explain,  with  accuracy  and  precision,  their  indi- 
vidual significance,  as  their  meaning  was  not  fully  developed 
until  the  times  of  the  Messiah.  So  is  it  with  "  the  Revelation 
of  Jesus  Christ  which  God  gave  unto  him  to  show  unto  his 
servants  things  which  must  shortly  come  to  pass,"  and  which 
"  he  sent  and  signified  by  his  angel  unto  his  servant  John." '  The 
Church  here  sees  as  "  through  a  glass  darkly,"  the  transac- 
tions of  her  future  history  ;  and  she  can  here  distinctly  dis- 
cern the  ultimate  triumph  of  her  principles,  so  that,  in  days 
of  adversity,  she  is  encouraged  and  sustained  ;  but  she  can  not 
speak  with  confidence  of  the  import  of  much  of  this  mysteri- 
ous record  ;  and  it  would  seem  as  if  the  actual  occurrence  of 
the  events  foretold  were  to  supply  the  only  safe  key  for  the 
interpretation  of  some  of  its  strange  imagery. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  book  we  have  an  account  of  a  glo- 
rious vision  presented  to  the  beloved  disciple.  He  was  in- 
structed to  write  down  what  he  saw,  and  to  send  it  to  the 
Seven  Churches  in  Asia,  "  unto  Ephesus,  and  unto  Smyrna, 
and  unto  Pergamos,  and  unto  Thyatira,  and  unto  Sardis,  and 
unto  Philadelphia,  and  unto  Laodicea."  "  A  vision  so  extra- 
ordinary as  that  which  he  describes,  must  have  left  upon  his 

'Rev.  i.  I.  ''Rev.  i.  II. 

(237) 


238  ANGELS   OF   THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES. 

mind  a  permanent  and  most  vivid  impression.  "  I  saw,"  says 
he,  "  seven  golden  candlesticks,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  seven 
candlesticks  one  like  unto  the  Son  of  Man  clothed  with  a  gar- 
ment down  to  the  foot,  and  girt  about  the  paps  with  a  golden 
girdle.  His  head  and  his  hair  were  white  like  wool,  as  white 
as  snow  ;  and  his  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire  ;  and  his  feet  like 
unto  fine  brass,  as  if  they  burned  in  a  furnace ;  and  his  voice 
as  the  sound  of  many  waters — and  he  had  in  his  right  hand 
seven  stars,  and  out  of  his  mouth  went  a  sharp  two-edged 
sword,  and  his  countenance  was  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his 
strength."  ' 

In  the  foreground  of  this  picture  the  Son  of  God  stands 
conspicuous.  His  dress  corresponds  to  that  of  the  Jewish 
high-priest,  and  the  whole  description  of  His  person  has 
obviously  a  reference,  either  to  His  own  divine  perfections, 
or  to  His  ofifices  as  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  He  himself  is  the 
expositor  of  two  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  symbols. 
"  The  seven  stars,"  says  He,  "  are  the  angels  of  the  Seven 
Churches,  and  the  seven  candlesticks  which  thou  sawest,  are 
the  Seven  Churches."  ^ 

But  though  the  symbol  of  the  stars  has  been  thus  inter- 
preted by  Christ,  the  interpretation  itself  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  considerable  discussion.  Much  difificulty  has  been  ex- 
perienced in  identifying  the  angels  of  the  Seven  Churches  ; 
and  there  have  been  various  conjectures  as  to  the  station 
which  they  occupied,  and  the  duties  which  they  performed. 
According  to  some  they  were  literally  angelic  beings  who  had 
the  special  charge  of  the  Seven  Churches.'  According  to 
others,  the  angel  of  a  Church  betokens  the  collective  body  of 
ministers  connected  with  the  society.  But  such  explanations 
are  very  far  from  satisfactory.  The  Scriptures  nowhere  teach 
that  each  Christian  community  is  under  the  care  of  its  own 
angelic  guardian  ;  neither  is  it  to  be  supposed   that   an  angel 

'  Rev.  i.  12-16.  "  Rev.  i.  20. 

'  This  was  the  opinion  of  Gregory  Nazianzen,  as  well  as  others.  There 
is  an  ingenious  article  on  this  subject  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra  for  April, 
1855.  Its  author,  the  Rev.  Isaac  Jennings,  advocates  the  view  propounded 
in  this  chapter. 


ANGELS   OF  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES.  239 

represents  the  ministry  of  a  Church,  for  one  symbol  would 
not  be  interpreted  by  another  symbol  of  dubious  signification. 
It  is  clear  that  the  angel  of  the  Church  is  a  single  individual, 
and  a  personage  well  known  to  the  body  with  which  he  was 
connected  at  the  time  when  the  Apocalypse  was  written. 

It  has  often  been  asserted  that  the  title  "  The  angel  of  the 
Church  "  is  borrowed  from  the  designation  of  one  of  the  min- 
isters of  the  synagogue.'  This  point,  however,  has  never  been 
fairly  demonstrated.  In  later  times  there  was,  no  doubt,  in 
the  synagogue  an  individual  known  by  the  name  of  the  legate, 
or  the  angel ;  but  there  is  no  decisive  evidence  that  an  official 
with  such  a  designation  existed  in  the  first  century.  In  the 
New  Testament  we  have  repeated  references  to  the  office- 
bearers of  the  synagogue  ;  we  are  told  of  the  rulers  *  or  elders, 
the  reader,^  and  the  minister^  or  deacon;  but  the  angel  is 
never  mentioned.  Philo  and  Josephus  are  equally  silent 
upon  the  subject.  It  is,  therefore,  extremely  doubtful  whether 
a  minister  with  this  title  was  known  among  the  Jews  in  the 
days  of  the  apostles. 

Even  granting,  what  is  so  very  problematical,  that  there 
were  in  the  synagogues  in  the  first  century  individuals  distin- 
guished by  the  designation  of  angels,  it  is  still  exceedingly 
questionable  whether  the  angels  of  the  Seven  Churches  bor- 
rowed  their  names  from  these  functionaries.  If  so,  the  angel 
of  the  Church  occupied  the  same  position  as  the  angel  of  the 
synagogue,  for  the  adoption  of  the  same  title  indicated  the 
possession  of  the  same  office.  But  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
angel  of  the  synagogue  to  offer  up  the  prayers  of  the  assem- 
bly ;  *  and  as,  in  all  the  synagogues,  there  was  worship  at  the 
same  hour,^  he  could  be  the  minister  of  only  one  congrega- 

'  This  is  the  opinion  of  Prideaux,  Vitringa,  and  many  others.  See  Prid. 
"Connec."  part,  i.,  book  vi. ;  and  Vitringa,  "  De  Synagoga,"  lib.  iii.,  par. 
2,  cap.  3. 

"  Acts  xiii.  15.  '  Luke  iv.  16.  ^  Luke  iv.  20. 

*  Prideaux,  part  i.,  book  vi.,  vol.  i.,  p.  385.     Edit.  London,  17 16. 

®  "  The  hours  of  public  devotions  in  them  on  their  synagogue  days  were, 
as  to  morning  and  evening  prayers,  the  same  hours  in  which  the  morning 
and  evening  sacrifices  were  offv^red  up  at  the  temple." — Prideaux,  part  i., 
book  vi. 


240  ANGELS   OF   THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES. 

tion.  If,  then,  the  angel  of  the  Church  discharged  the  same 
functions  as  the  angel  of  the  synagogue,  it  follows  that,  to- 
ward the  termination  of  the  first  century,  there  was  only  one 
Christian  congregation  in  each  of  the  seven  cities  of  Ephesus, 
Smyrna,  Pergamos,  Thyatira,  Sardis,  Philadelphia,  and  Lao- 
dicea. »  It  may,  however,  be  fairly  questioned  whether  the 
number  of  disciples  in  every  one  of  these  places  was  then  so 
limited  as  such  an  inference  suggests.  In  Laodicea,  and  in 
one  or  two  of  the  other  cities,'  there  may  have  been  only  a 
single  congregation ;  but  it  is  scarcely  probable  that  all  the 
brethren  in  Ephesus  still  met  together  in  one  assembly. 
About  forty  years  before,  the  Word  of  God  "grew  mightily 
and  prevailed  "  "  in  that  great  metropolis  ;  and,  among  its  in- 
habitants, Paul  had  persuaded  "  much  people  "  *  to  become 
disciples  of  Christ.  But  if  the  angel  of  the  Church  derived 
his  title  from  the  angel  of  the  synagogue,  and  if  the  position 
of  these  two  functionaries  was  the  same,  we  are  shut  up  to 
the  conclusion  that  there  was  now  only  one  congregation  in 
the  capital  of  the  Proconsular  Asia.  The  angel  could  not  be 
in  two  places  at  the  same  time;  and,  as  it  was  his  duty  to 
ofTer  up  the  prayers  of  the  assembled  worshippers,  it  was  im- 
possible for  him  to  minister  to  two  congregations. 

These  considerations  abundantly  attest  the  futility  of  the 
imagination  that  the  angel  of  the  Church  was  a  diocesan 
bishop.  The  office  of  the  angel  of  the  synagogue  had,  in 
fact,  no  resemblance  whatever  to  that  of  a  prelate.  The  rank 
of  the  ancient  Jewish  functionary  was  similar  to  that  of  a 
precentor  in  some  of  our  Protestant  churches ;  and  when  set 
forms  of  prayer  were  introduced  among  the  Israelites,  it  was 
his  duty  to  read  them  aloud  in  the  congregation.  The  angel 
was  not  the  chief  ruler  of  the  synagogue ;  he  occupied  a  sub- 
ordinate position ;  and  was  amenable  to  the  authority  of  the 

•  Maurice  in  his  work  on  Diocesan  Episcopacy  in  reply  to  Clarkson, 
admits  (p.  257)  that  in  our  Saviour's  time,  Laodicea  had  "  but  few  inhabi- 
tants." Philadelphia  is  described  by  Strabo,  as  a  place  with  a  small  pop- 
ulation. 

'  Acts  xix.  20.  •  Acts  xix.  26. 


ANGELS   OF  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES.  24I 

bench  of  elders.'  It  is  in  vain,  then,  to  attempt  to  recognize 
the  predecessors  of  our  modern  diocesans  in  the  angels  of  the 
Seven  Churches.  Had  bishops  been  originally  called  angels, 
they  never  would  have  parted  with  so  complimentary  a  desig- 
nation. Had  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  Apocalypse  bestowed 
upon  them  such  a  title,  it  never  would  have  been  laid  aside. 
When,  about  a  century  after  this  period,  we  begin  to  discover 
distinct  traces  of  a  hierarchy,  an  extreme  anxiety  is  discernible 
to  find  for  it  something  like  a  footing  in  the  days  of  the  apos- 
tles ;  but,  strange  to  say,  the  earliest  prelates  of  whom  we 
read  are  not  known  by  the  name  of  angels.''  If  such  a  nomen- 
clature existed  in  the  time  of  the  Apostle  John,  it  passed 
away  at  once  and  forever !  No  trace  of  it  can  be  detected 
even  in  the  second  century.  It  is  thus  apparent  that,  what- 
ever the  angels  of  the  Seven  Churches  may  have  been,  they 
certainly  were  not  diocesan  bishops. 

The  place  where  these  angels  are  to  be  found  in  the  apoca- 
lyptic scene  also  suggests  the  fallacy  of  the  interpretation  that 
they  are  the  chief  pastors  of  the  Seven  Churches.  The  stars 
are  seen,  not  distributed  over  the  seven  candlesticks,  but  col- 
lected together  in  the  hand  of  Christ.  Though  the  angels  are 
in  some  way  related  to  the  Churches,  the  relation  is  such  that 
they  may  be  separated  without  inconvenience.  What,  then, 
can  these  angels  be  ?  How  do  they  happen  to  possess  the 
name  they  bear?  Why  are  they  gathered  into  the  right 
hand  of  the  Son  of  Man?  All  these  questions  admit  of  a 
very  plain  and  satisfactory  solution. 

'  Prideaux  speaks  of  the  angel  of  the  synagogue,  in  relation  to  the  rulers, 
as  "  7iext  to  them,  or  perchance  one  of  them."   Part  i.,  book  vi.,  vol.  i.,  p.  385. 

"  It  never  occurred  to  Tertullian  that  the  angels  of  the  Churches  were 
bishops.  He  obviously  considered  the  angel  of  the  Church  an  invisible 
intelligence.  Thus  he  says  of  Paul,  "  Lusit  igitur  et  de  suo  spiritu,  et  de 
ecclesiae  angelo,  et  de  virtute  Domini,  si  quod  de  consilio  eorum  pronunci- 
averat  rescidit." — De  Pudicitia,  c.  xiv.  ad  finem.  See  also  Tertullian,  "  De 
Baptismo,"  c.  vi.  Such,  too,  was  the  opinion  of  Origen,  "  De  Principiis," 
lib.  i.,  c.  8,  and  "  De  Oratione,"  11.  The  fact  that,  long  after  the  hierarchy 
was  for7ned,  in  two  or  three  rare  cases  a  bishop  is  called  an  angel,  in 
reference  to  the  angels  of  the  Apocalypse,  is  nothing  to  the  purpose.  See 
Bingham,  i.  79. 

16 


242  ANGEIS   OF   THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES. 

An  angel  literally  signifies  a  messenger,  and  these  angels 
were  simply  the  messengers  of  the  Seven  Churches.  John 
had  long  resided  at  Ephesus ;  and  now  that  he  was  banished 
to  the  Isle  of  Patmos  "  for  the  word  of  God  and  for  the  testi- 
mony of  Jesus  Christ,"  the  Christian  communities  among 
which  he  had  ministered  so  many  years,  sent  trusty  deputies 
to  visit  him,  to  assure  him  of  their  sympathy,  and  to  tender 
to  him  their  friendly  offices.  In  primitive  times  such  angels 
were  often  sent  to  the  brethren  in  confinement  or  in  exile. 
Thus,  Paul,  when  in  imprisonment  at  Rome,  says  to  the  Phi- 
lippians,  "  Ye  have  well  done  that  ye  did  communicate  with 

my  affliction I  am  full,  having  received  of  Epaphro- 

ditus  the  things  which  were  sent  from  you." '  Here  Epaphro- 
ditus  is  presented  to  us  as  the  angel  of  the  Church  of  Philippi. 
This  minister  seems,  indeed,  to  have  spent  no  small  portion  of 
his  time  in  travelling  between  Rome  and  Macedonia.  Hence 
Paul  observes,  "  I  supposed  it  necessary  to  send  to  you  Epaphro- 
ditus,  my  brother  and  companion  in  labor  and  fellow-soldier, 
h\x\.  yonr  messenger  and  he  that  ministered  to  my  zvants^  In 
like  manner,  the  individuals  selected  to  convey  to  the  poor 
saints  in  Jerusalem  the  contributions  of  the  Gentile  converts 
in  Greece  and  Asia  Minor,  are  called  "  the  messengers  of  the 
Churches."'  The  practice  of  sending  messengers  to  visit  and 
comfort  the  saints  in  poverty,  in  confinement,  or  in  exile,  may 
be  traced  for  centuries  in  the  history  of  the  Church  ;  and,  in 
other  parts  of  the  New  Testament  as  well  as  in  the  Revelation, 
an  individual  sent  on  a  special  errand  is  repeatedly  called  an 
angel.  Thus,  John  the  Baptist,  who  was  commissioned  to  an- 
nounce the  approach  of  the  Messiah,  is  styled  God's  angel,* 
or  messenger,  and  the  spies,  sent  to  view  the  land  of  Canaan, 
are  distinguished  by  the  same  designation.' 

Toward  the  close  of  the  first  century  the  Apostle  John  must 
have  been  regarded  with  extraordinary  veneration  by  his  Chris- 

'  Phil.  iv.  14,  18.  '  Phil.  ii.  25. 

'  2  Cor.  viii.  23,  u-i'drokr,!  EKKljjaiMv.  In  after-times  it  was  deemed  proper 
that  these  messengers  should  be  of  the  clerical  order.  Sec  Cyprian,  cpist 
xxiv.,  Ixxv.,  and  l.xxix. 

*  Luke  vii.  27,  rbv  a.yyt:7.6v  fiov.  '  James  ii.  25,  roi)f  ay-ytlovi. 


ANGELS   OF   THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES.  243 

tian  brethren.  He  was  the  last  survivor  of  a  band  of  men  who 
had  laid  the  foundations  of  the  New  Testament  Church ;  and 
he  was  himself  one  of  the  most  honored  members  of  the  little 
fraternity,  for  he  had  enjoyed  peculiarly  intimate  fellowship 
with  his  Divine  Master.  Our  Lord,  ''  in  the  day  of  his  flesh," 
had  permitted  him  to  lean  upon  His  bosom  ;  and  he  is  de- 
scribed by  the  pen  of  inspiration  as  '^  the  disciple  whom  Jesus 
loved." '  All  accounts  concur  in  representing  him  as  most 
amiable  and  warm-hearted  ;  and  as  he  had  now  far  outlived 
the  ordinary  term  of  human  existence,  the  snows  of  age  im- 
parted additional  interest  to  a  personage  otherwise  exceedingly 
attractive.  Such  a  man  was  not  permitted  in  apostolic  times 
to  pine  away  unheeded  in  solitary  exile.  The  small  island 
which  was  the  place  of  his  banishment  was  only  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  Asiatic  metropolis,  and  the  other  six  cities 
named  in  the  Apocalypse  were  all  in  the  same  district  as 
Ephesus.  It  was,  therefore,  by  no  means  extraordinary  that 
seven  messengers  from  seven  neighboring  Churches,  to  all  of 
which  he  was  well  known,  are  found  together  in  Patmos  on  a 
visit  to  the  venerable  confessor. 

This  explanation  satisfies  all  the  conditions  required  by  the 
laws  of  interpretation.  Whilst  it  reveals  concern  for  the 
welfare  of  John  quite  in  keeping  with  the  benevolent  spirit  of 
apostolic  times,  it  is  also  simple  and  sufficient.  In  prophetic 
language  a  star  usually  signifies  a  ruler,  and  the  angels  sent  to 
Patmos  were  selected  from  among  the  elders,  or  rulers,  of  the 
Churches  with  which  they  were  respectively  connected  ;  for,  it 
is  well  known  that,  at  an  early  period,  elders,  or  presbyters,  were 
frequently  appointed  to  act  as  messengers  or  commissioners.* 
We  thus  understand,  too,  why  the  letters  are  addressed  to  the 
angels,  for  in  this  case  they  were  the  official  organs  of  com- 
munication between  the  apostle  and  the  religious  societies 
which  they  had  been  deputed  to  represent.     The  instructions 

'  John  xxi.  7,  20. 

''Thus  Hippolytus  speaks  of  a  certain  elder,  named  Hyacinthus,  who  was 
sent  to  the  governor  of  Sardinia  with  a  letter  for  the  release  of  the  Christians 
banished  there.  "  Philosophumena,"  p.  288.  The  le-^ate  oi  \\\&  bishop  ol 
Rome  is  a  species  of  memorial  of  the  angel  of  the  ancient  Church. 


244  ANGELS   OF  THE    SEVEN   CHURCHES. 

contained  in  the  epistles  were  designed,  not  merely  for  the 
angels  individually,  but  for  the  communities  of  which  they 
were  members  ;  and  hence  the  exhortation  with  which  each  of 
them  concludes :  "  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the 
Spirit  saith  unto  the  Churches^ '  When  the  apostle  was  hon- 
ored with  the  vision,  he  was  directed  to  write  out  an  account 
of  what  he  saw,  and  to  ''send  it  unto  the  Seven  Churches 
which  are  in  Asia  "; ""  and  this  interpretation  explains  how  he 
transmitted  the  communication ;  for,  as  Christ  is  said  to  have 
''sent  and  signified"  His  Revelation  "by  his  angel  unto  his 
servant  John," '  so  John,  in  his  turn,  conveyed  it  by  the  seven 
angels  to  the  Seven  Churches.  It  was,  no  doubt,  thought  that 
the  messengers  undertook  a  most  perilous  errand  when  they 
engaged  to  visit  a  distinguished  Christian  minister  who  had 
been  driven  into  banishment  by  a  jealous  tyrant ;  but  they  are 
taught  by  the  vision  that  they  are  under  the  special  care  of 
Him  who  is  "the  Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth";  for  the 
Saviour  appears  holding  them  in  His  right  hand  as  He  walks 
in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks.  When  bearing 
consolation  to  the  aged  minister,  each  one  of  them  could  en- 
joy the  comfort  of  the  promise,  "Can  a  woman  forget  her 
sucking  child  that  she  should  not  have  compassion  on  the  son 
of  her  womb?  Yea,  they  may  forget,  yet  will  not  I  forget 
thee.  Behold,  /  have  graven  thee  upon  the  palms  of  my  ha?ids."  * 
It  has  often  been  thought  singular  that  or\\y  seven  Churches 
of  the  Proconsular  Asia  are  here  addressed,  as  it  is  well  known 
that,  at  this  period,  there  were  several  other  Christian  socie- 
ties in  the  same  province.  Thus,  in  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood of  Laodicea  were  the  Churches  of  Colosse  and  Hierapo- 
lis ; "  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Ephesus,  perhaps  the  Churches  of 
Tralles  and  Magnesia.  But  the  seven  angels  mentioned  by 
John  were  perhaps  the  only  ecclesiastical  messengers  in  Pat- 
mos  at  the  time  of  the  vision  ;  and  they  may  have  been  the 
organs  of  communication  with  a  greater  number  of  Churches 
than  those  which  they  directly  represented.     Seven  was  re- 

'Rev.  ii.  7,  II,  17,  29,  iii.  6,  13,  22.         '  Rev.  i.  11.  'Rev.  i.  I. 

*  Isa.  xlix.  15,  16. 

'The  Christians  of  Hierapolis  are  mentioned  Col.  iv.  13. 


ANGELS   OF   THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES.  245 

garded  by  the  Jews  as  the  symbol  of  perfection  ;  and  it  is 
remarkable  that,  on  another  occasion  noticed  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment/ exactly  seven  messengers  were  deputed  by  the  Churches 
of  Greece  and  Asia  Minor  to  convey  their  contributions  to  the 
indigent  disciples  in  Jerusalem.  There  are,  too,  grounds  for  be- 
lieving that  these  seven  religious  societies,  in  their  varied  char- 
acter and  prospects,  are  emblems  of  the  Church  universal.  The 
instructions  addressed  to  the  disciples  in  these  seven  cities  of 
Asia  were  designed  for  the  benefit  of  "  THE  Churches"  of  all 
countries  as  well  as  of  all  succeeding  generations ;  and  the 
whole  imagery  indicates  that  the  vision  is  to  be  thus  inter- 
preted. The  Son  of  Man  does  not  confine  His  care  to  the 
Seven  Churches  of  Asia,  for  He  who  walks  in  the  midst  of  the 
seven  golden  candlesticks  is  the  same  who  said  of  old  to  the 
nation  of  Israel,  "  I  will  set  up  my  tabernacle  among  you,  and 
my  soul  shall  not  abhor  you,  and  /  wt//  walk  among  you,  and 
will  be  your  God,  and  ye  shall  be  my  people."  °  In  the  vision, 
the  "  countenance  "  of  the  Saviour  is  said  to  have  been  "  as 
the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength ";  ^  and  the  prayer  of  the 
Church  catholic  is :  "  God  be  merciful  unto  us,  and  bless  us, 
and  cause  his  face  to  shine  upon  us,  that  thy  way  may  be  known 
upon  earth,  thy  saving  health  among  all  nations."  ^ 

The  preceding  statements  demonstrate  the  folly  of  attempt- 
ing to  construct  a  system  of  ecclesiastical  polity  from  such  a 
highly-figurative  portion  of  Scripture  as  the  Apocalypse.  In 
the  angel  of  the  Church  some  have  discovered  the  moderator 
of  a  presbytery,  others,  the  bishop  of  a  diocese;  and  others, 
the  minister  of  an  Irvingite  congregation.  But  the  basis  on 
which  all  such  theories  are  founded  is  a  mere  blunder  as  to  the 
significance  of  an  ecclesiastical  title.  The  angels  of  the  Seven 
Churches  were  neither  moderators,  nor  diocesans,  nor  precen- 
tors, but  messengers  sent  on  an  errand  of  love  to  an  apostle  in 
tribulation. 

'  Acts  XX.  4.        "^  Lev,  xxvi.  11,  12.        ^  Rev.  i.  16,        *  Ps.  Ixvii.  i,  2. 


PERIOD  II. 

FROM   THE   DEATH    OF   THE   APOSTLE   JOHN   TO 

THE   CONVERSION   OF   CONSTANTINE, 

A.D.  100   TO   A.D.  312. 


SECTION  I. 

THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    CHURCH. 


CHAPTER    I.  • 

THE    GROWTH    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

The  dawn  of  the  second  century  was  full  of  promise  to  the 
Church.  On  the  death  of  Domitian  in  a.d.  96,  the  Roman 
Empire  enjoyed  for  a  short  time'  the  administration  of  the 
mild  and  equitable  Nerva.  This  prince  repealed  the  sanguin- 
ary laws  of  his  predecessor,  and  the  disciples  had  a  respite 
from  persecution.  Trajan,  who  succeeded  him,''  and  who  now 
occupied  the  throne,  was  not  unwilling  to  imitate  his  policy, 
so  that,  in  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  the  Christians  had  no 
reason  to  complain  of  imperial  oppression.  All  accounts  con- 
cur in  stating  that  their  affairs,  at  this  period,  presented  a  most 
hopeful  aspect.  They  displayed  a  united  front,  for  they  had 
hitherto  been  almost  entirely  free  from  the  evils  of  sectarian- 
ism ;  and  now  that  they  were  relieved  from  the  terrible  in- 
cubus of  a  ruthless  tyranny,  their  spirits  were  as  buoyant  as 
ever ;  for  though  intolerance  had  thinned  their  ranks,  it  had 
also  exhibited  their  constancy  and  stimulated  their  enthu- 
siasm. Their  intense  attachment  to  the  evangelical  cause 
stood  out  in  strange  and  impressive  contrast  with  the  apathy 
of  polytheism.  A  heathen  repeated,  not  without  scepticism, 
the  tales  of  his  mythology,  and  readily  passed  over  from  one 
form  of  superstition  to  another  ;  but  the  Christian  felt  himself 
strong  in  the  truth,  and  was  prepared  to  peril  all  that  was 

'  A.D.  96  to  A.D.  98.  "^  A.D.  98  to  A.D.  II7. 

(249) 


250  MORALITY   OF   THE   CHRISTIANS. 

dear  to  him  on  earth  rather  than  abandon  his  cherished  prin- 
ciples. Well  might  serious  pagans  be  led  to  think  favorably 
of  a  creed  which  fostered  such  decision  and  magnanimity. 

The  wonderful  improvement  produced  by  the  Gospel  on  the 
lives  of  multitudes  by  whom  it  was  embraced,  was,  however, 
its  most  striking  and  cogent  recommendation.  The  Christian 
authors  who  now  published  works  in  its  defence,  to  many  of 
which  they  gave  the  designation  of  apologies,  and  who  sought, 
by  means  of  these  productions,  either  to  correct  the  misrepre- 
sentations of  its  enemies,  or  to  check  the  violence  of  persecu- 
tion, always  appeal  with  special  confidence  to  this  weighty 
testimonial.  A  veteran  profligate  converted  into  a  sober  and 
exemplary  citizen  was  a  witness  for  the  truth  whose  evidence  it 
was  difficult  either  to  discard  or  to  depreciate.  Nor  were  such 
vouchers  rare  either  in  the  second  or  third  century.  A  learned 
minister  of  the  Church  could  venture  to  affirm  that  Christian 
communities  were  to  be  found  composed  of  men  "  reclaimed 
from  ten  thousand  vices,'' '  and  that  these  societies,  compared 
with  others  around  them,  were  "  as  lights  in  the  world.'"  The 
practical  excellence  of  the  new  faith  is  attested,  still  more 
circumstantially,  by  another  of  its  advocates  who  wrote  about 
half  a  century  after  the  age  of  the  apostles.  "  We,"  says  he, 
"  who  formerly  delighted  in  vicious  excesses  are  now  temperate 
and  chaste ;  we,  who  once  practiced  magical  arts,  have  conse- 
crated ourselves  to  the  good  and  unbegotten  God  ;  we,  who 
once  prized  gain  above  all  things,  give  even  what  we  have  to 
the  common  use,  and  share  it  with  such  as  are  in  need ;  we, 
who  once  hated  and  murdered  one  another,  who,  on  account 
of  difference  of  customs,  would  have  no  common  hearth  with 
strangers,  now,  since  the  appearance  of  Christ,  live  together 
with  them;  we  pray  for  our  enemies;  we  seek  to  persuade 
those  who  hate  us  without  cause  to  live  conformably  to  the 
goodly  precepts  of  Christ,  that  they  may  become  partakers 
with  us  of  the  joyful  hope  of  blessings  from  God,  the  Lord  of 
all." '     When  we  consider  that  all  the  old  superstitions  had 

'  Origen,  "  Contra  Celsum,"  i.  §  67.     See  also  i.  §  26. 

'  Origen,  "  Contra  Celsum,"  iii.  §  29. 

*  Justin  Martyr,  "  Apol."  ii.  61.     Edit.,  Paris,  1615. 


TRANSLATIONS   OF  THE   NEW   TESTAMENT.  25 1 

now  become  nearly  effete,  we  can  not  be  surprised  at  the  sig- 
nal triumphs  of  a  system  which  furnished  such  noble  creden- 
tials. 

Whilst  Christianity  demonstrated  its  divine  virtue  by  its 
good  fruits,  it  invited  all  men  to  study  its  doctrines  and  to 
judge  for  themselves.  Those  disposed  to  examine  its  inter- 
nal evidences  were  supplied  with  facilities  for  pursuing  the  in- 
vestigation, as  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament  were 
publicly  read  in  the  assemblies  of  the  faithful,  and  copies  of 
them  were  diligently  multiplied,  so  that  these  divine  guides 
could  be  readily  consulted  by  every  one  who  really  wished  for 
information.  The  importance  of  the  writings  of  the  apostles 
and  evangelists  suggested  the  propriety  of  making  them  avail- 
able for  the  instruction  of  those  ignorant  of  Greek ;  and  ver- 
sions in  the  Latin,  the  Syriac,  and  other  languages,'  soon 
made  their  appearance.  Some  compositions  are  stripped  of 
their  charms  when  exhibited  in  translations,  as  they  owe  their 
attractiveness  to  the  mere  embellishments  of  style  or  expres- 
sion ;  but  the  Word  of  God,  like  all  the  works  of  the  High 
and  the  Holy  One,  speaks  with  equal  power  to  every  kindred 
and  tongue  and  people.  When  correctly  rendered  into  an- 
other language,  it  is  still  full  of  grace  and  truth,  of  majesty 
and  beauty.  In  whatever  dialect  it  is  clothed,  it  continues  to 
awaken  the  conscience  and  to  convert  the  soul.  Its  dissemi- 
nation at  this  period,  either  in  the  original  or  in  translations, 
contributed  greatly  to  the  extension  of  the  Church;  and  the 
Gospel,  issuing  from  this  pure  fountain,  revealed  its  superi- 
ority to  all  the  miserable  dilutions  of  superstition  and  absurd- 
ity presented  in  the  systems  of  heathenism. 

When  accounting  for  the  rapid  diffusion  of  the  new  faith  in 
the  second  and  third  centuries,  many  have  laid  much  stress 

'  The  Peshito,  or  old  Syriac  version,  is  supposed  to  have  been  made  in 
the  first  half  of  the  second  century. — Westcott  "  On  the  Canon,"  pp.  264, 
265.  There  are  traces  of  the  existence  of  a  Latin  version  in  the  time  of 
Tertullian,  or  before  the  close  of  the  second  century. — Ibid.,  p.  275.  "  Two 
versions  into  the  dialects  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt — the  Thebaic  (Sahidic) 
and  Memphitic — date  from  the  close  of  the  third  century." — Ibid.,  pp.  415, 
416. 


252  DISCONTINUANCE   OF   MIRACLES. 

on  the  miraculous  powers  of  the  disciples  ;  but  the  aid  derived 
from  this  quarter  has  been  greatly  over-estimated.  The  days 
of  Christ  and  His  apostles  were  properly  the  times  of  "  won- 
ders and  mighty  deeds  ";  and  though  the  lives  of  some,  on 
whom  extraordinary  endowments  were  conferred,  extended 
far  into  the  second  century,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  earliest 
ecclesiastical  writers  are  almost,  if  not  altogether,  silent  on  the 
subject  of  contemporary  miracles.'  Supernatural  gifts,  per- 
haps, ceased  with  those  on  whom  they  were  bestowed  by  the 
inspired  founders  of  the  Church ;"  but  many  imagined  that 
their  continuance  was  necessary  to  the  credit  of  the  Christian 
cause,  and  were,  therefore,  slow  to  admit  that  these  tokens  of 
the  divine  recognition  had  completely  disappeared.  The 
prodigies  attributed  to  this  period  are  very  indifferently  au- 
thenticated as  compared  with  those  reported  by  the  pen  of 
inspiration.'  In  some  cases  they  are  described  in  ambiguous 
or  general  terms,  such  as  the  narrators  might  have  been  ex- 
pected to  employ  when  detailing  vague  and  uncertain  rumors; 
and  not  a  few  of  the  cures  dignified  with  the  title  of  miracles 
are  of  a  commonplace  character,  such  as  could  have  been  ac- 
complished without  any  supernatural  interference,  and  which 

'  See  Middleton's  "  Inquiry,"  pp.  3,  9. 

*  See  Kaye's  "  Tertullian,"  pp.  98-101.  Edition,  Cambridge,  1826.  Eu- 
sebius  represents  Ireneeus  as  showing  how,  "  doiuti  to  his  times,  instances 
of  divine  and  miraculous  }^<:)\\&c  still  existed  in  some  churches." — Ecc.Hist., 
V.  7. 

3  Tertullian  states  that  the  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius  became  friendly  to 
the  Christians,,  in  consequence  of  a  remarkable  interposition  of  Providence 
in  favor  of  his  army,  in  a  war  with  the  Marcomanni  and  the  Quadi.  It 
was  alleged  that,  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  a  body  of  Christian  soldiers, 
afterward  known  as  the  Thimdcrijig  Legion,  the  imperial  troops  were  re- 
lieved by  rain,  whilst  a  thunder-storm  confounded  the  enemy.  It  is  quite 
certain  that  the  Roman  army  was  rescued  from  imminent  peril  by  a  season- 
able shower  ;  but  it  is  equally  clear  that  the  emperor  attributed  his  deliver- 
ance, not  to  the  God  of  the  Christians,  but  to  Jupiter  Pluvius,  and  that  a 
certain  section  of  the  Roman  soldiers  was  known  long  before  by  the  name 
of  the  Thundering  Legion.  There  is  no  evidence  that  Marcus  Aurelius 
ever  became  friendly  to  the  Christians.  See  Lardner,  "  Heathen  Testi- 
monies," "Works,"  vii.  176-188. 


SPREAD   OF  THE   GOSPEL.  253 

Jewish  and  heathen  quacks  frequently  performed.'  No  writer 
of  this  period  asserts  that  he  himself  possessed  the  power 
either  of  speaking  with  tongues,^  or  of  healing  the  sick,  or  of 
raising  the  dead.'  Legend  began  to  supply  food  for  popular 
credulity ;  and  it  is  a  suspicious  circumstance  that  the  greater 
number  of  the  miracles  which  are  said  to  have  happened  in  the 
second  and  third  centuries  are  recorded  for  the  first  time  a 
hundred  years  after  the  alleged  date  of  their  occurrence.* 
But  Christianity  derived  no  substantial  advantage  from  these 
fictitious  wonders.  Some  of  them  were  so  frivolous  as  to  ex- 
cite contempt,  and  others  so  ridiculous  as  to  afford  matter  for 
merriment  to  the  more  intelligent  pagans.' 

The  Gospel  had  better  claims  than  any  furnished  by  equiv- 
ocal miracles;  and,  though  it  still  encountered  opposition,  it 
moved  forward  in  a  triumphant  career.  In  some  districts  it 
produced  such  an  impression  that  it  threatened  the  speedy 
extinction  of  the  established  worship.  In  Bithynia,  early  in 
the  second  century,  the  temples  of  the  gods  were  well-nigh 
deserted,  and  the  sacrificial  victims  found  very  few  purchas- 
ers,* The  pagan  priest  took  the  alarm  ;  the  power  of  the 
magistrate  interposed  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the  new  doc- 
trine ;  and  spies  were  found  willing  to  dog  the  steps  and  to 
discover  the  meeting-places  of  the  converts.     Many  quailed 

'  See  Middleton's  "  Inquiry,"  p.  84.  Edition,  Dublin,  1749.  Bishop  Kaye 
has  remarked  that,  in  the  writings  of  Tertullian,  "  the  only  power  of  the  ex- 
ercise of  which  specific  instances  are  alleged,  was  that  of  exorcising  evil 
spirits."  Kaye's  "Tertullian,"  p.  461.  From  the  symptoms  mentioned  it 
would  appear  that  the  individuals  with  whom  the  exorcists  succeeded  were 
epileptics. 

^  Irenaeus,  who  was  not  unfavorable  to  the  Montanists,  speaks  of  the  gift 
of  tongues  as  possessed  by  some  in  his  age,  and  yet  he  himself,  as  a  mis- 
sionary, was  obliged  to  struggle  with  the  difficulties  of  a  foreign  language. 
"  Adv.  Haeres,"  v.,  c.  6,  and  "  Prasf."  ad.  i. 

■■'  When  Theophilus  of  Antioch,  toward  the  end  of  the  second  century, 
was  invited  by  Autolycus  to  point  out  a  single  person  who  had  been  raised 
from  the  dead,  he  did  not  accept  the  challenge.  See  Kaye's  "  Justin  Martyr," 
p.  217. 

*  Middleton's  "  Inquiry,''  Preface,  p.  iv.  "  Middleton,  pp.  22,  23. 

'  Plinii,  "  Epist."  lib.  x.  epist.  97. 


2  54  SPREAD    OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

before  the  prospect  of  death,  and  purchased  immunity  from 
persecution  by  again  repairing  to  the  altars  of  idolatry.  But, 
notwithstanding  all  the  arts  of  intimidation  and  chicanery, 
the  good  cause  continued  to  prosper.  In  Rome,  in  Antioch, 
in  Alexandria,  and  in  other  great  cities,  the  truth  steadily 
gained  ground  ;  and,  toward  the  end  of  the  second  century, 
it  had  acquired  such  strength  even  in  Carthage — a  place  far 
removed  from  the  scene  of  its  original  proclamation— that,  ac- 
cording to  the  statement  of  one  of  its  advocates,  its  adherents 
amounted  to  a  tc7ith  of  the  inhabitants.'  About  the  same 
period  Churches  were  to  be  found  in  various  parts  of  the 
north  of  Africa  between  Egypt  and  Carthage ;  and,  in  the 
East,  Christianity  soon  acquired  a  permanent  footing  in  the 
little  State  of  Edessa,''  in  Arabia,  in  Parthia,  and  in  India.  In 
the  West,  it  continued  to  extend  itself  throughout  Greece  and 
Italy,  as  well  as  in  Spain  and  France.  In  the  latter  country 
the  Churches  of  Lyons  and  Vienne  attract  attention  in  the 
second  century  ;  and  in  the  third,  seven  eminent  missionaries 
formed  congregations  in  Paris,  Tours,  Aries,  Narbonne,  Tou- 
louse, Limoges,  and  Clermont.'  Meanwhile  the  light  of  di- 
vine truth  penetrated  into  Germany;  and,  as  the  third  centu- 
ry advanced,  even  the  rude  Goths  inhabiting  Moesia  and 
Thrace  were  partially  brought  under  its  influence.  The  cir- 
cumstances which  led  to  the  conversion  of  these  barbarians 
are  remarkable.  On  the  occasion  of  one  of  their  predatory 
incursions  into  the  Empire,  they  carried  away  captive  some 
Christian  presbyters  ;  but  the  parties  thus  unexpectedly  re- 
duced to  bondage  did  not  neglect  the  duties  of  their  spiritual 
calling,  and  commended  their  cause  so  successfully  to  those 
by  whom  they  were  enslaved,  that  the  whole  nation  eventu- 
ally embraced  the  Gospel.*  Even  the  barriers  of  the  ocean 
did  not  arrest  the  progress  of  the  victorious  faith.  Before  the 
end  of  the  second  century  the  religion  of  the  cross  had  reached 

'  Tertullian,  "Ad  Scapulam,"  c.  5. 

*  "Spicilegiiim  Syriacum"  by  Cureton,  p.  31.     The  correspondence  be- 
tween Abgar  and  our  Lord,  given  by  Euscbius,  is  manifestly  spurious. 

*  Gregory  of  Tours,  "Hist.  Francorum,"  lib.  i.,  c.  28. 

*  Sozomen,  "  Hist.  Eccies."  ii.  6,  and  Philostorgius,  "  Hist.  Eccles."  ii.  5. 


SPREAD   OF  THE   GOSPEL.  255 

Scotland  ;  for,  though  Tertullian  certainly  speaks  rhetorically 
when  he  says  that  "  the  places  of  Britain  inaccessible  to  the 
Romans  were  subject  to  Christ," '  his  language  at  least  im- 
plies that  the  message  of  salvation  had  already  been  pro- 
claimed with  some  measure  of  encouragement  in  Caledonia. 

Though  no  contemporary  writer  has  furnished  us  with  any- 
thing like  an  ecclesiastical  history  of  this  period,  it  is  very 
clear,  from  occasional  hints  thrown  out  by  the  early  apolo- 
gists and  controversialists,  that  the  progress  of  the  Church 
was  both  extensive  and  rapid.  A  Christian  author,  who  flour- 
ished about  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  asserts  that 
there  was  then  "  no  race  of  men,  whether  of  barbarians  or  of 
Greeks,  or  bearing  any  other  name,  either  because  they  lived 
in  wagons  without  fixed  habitations,  or  in  tents  leading  a  pas- 
toral life,  among  whom  prayers  and  thanksgivings  were  not 
offered  up  to  the  Father  and  Maker  of  all  things  through  the 
name  of  the  crucified  Jesus."  ^  Another  father,  who  wrote 
shortly  afterward,  observes  that,  "  as  in  the  sea  there  are  cer- 
tain habitable  and  fertile  islands  with  wholesome  springs,  pro- 
vided with  roadsteads  and  harbors,  in  which  those  who  are 
overtaken  by  tempests  may  find  refuge — in  like  manner  has 
God  placed  in  a  world  tossed  by  the  billows  and  storms  of  sin, 
congregations  or  holy  churches,  in  which,  as  in  insular  har- 
bors, the  doctrines  of  truth  are  sheltered,  and  to  which  those 
who  desire  to  be  saved,  who  love  the  truth,  and  who  wish  to 
escape  the  judgment  of  God,  may  repair."  ^  These  statements 
indicate  that  the  Gospel  was  soon  very  widely  disseminated. 
Within  less  than  a  hundred  years  after  the  apostolic  age, 
places  of  Christian  worship  were  to  be  seen  in  the  chief  cities  of 
the  Empire ;  and  early  in  the  third  century  a  decision  of  the 
imperial  tribunal  awarded  to  the  faithful  in  the  great  Western 
metropolis  a  plot  of  ground  for  the  erection  of  one  of  their 
religious  edifices.^      At  length  in  A.D.  260  the  Emperor  Gal- 

'  "  Adversus  Jud^os,"  c.  7. 

"  Justin  Martyr,  "  Dialogue  with  Trypho,"  Opera,  p.  345. 
^  Theophilus,  "Ad  Autolycum,"  lib.  ii.    See  also  Origen,  "  In  Matthaeum,' 
Opera,  torn,  iii.,  p.  858. 

*  "  Life  of  Alexander  Severus,"  by  Lampridius. 


256  GRADUAL   ADVANCEMENT   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

lienus  issued  an  edict  of  toleration  in  their  favor ;  and,  during 
the  forty  years  which  followed,  their  numbers  so  increased 
that  the  ecclesiastical  buildings  in  which  they  had  hitherto 
assembled  were  no  longer  sufficient  for  their  accommodation. 
Nev/  and  spacious  churches  now  supplanted  the  old  meeting- 
houses, and  these  more  fashionable  structures  were  soon  filled 
to  overflowing."  But  the  spirit  of  the  world  began  to  be 
largely  infused  into  the  Christian  communities ;  the  Church 
was  distracted  by  its  ministers  struggling  with  each  other  for 
pre-eminence  ;  and  even  the  terrible  persecution  of  Diocletian 
which  succeeded,  could  neither  quench  the  ambition,  nor  ar- 
rest the  violence  of  contending  pastors. 

If  we  stand  only  for  a  moment  on  the  beach,  we  find  it  im- 
possible to  decide  whether  the  tide  is  ebbing  or  flowing.  But 
if  we  remain  there  for  a  few  hours,  the  question  will  not  re- 
main unsettled.  The  sea  will  meanwhile  either  retire  into  its 
depths,  or  compel  us  to  retreat  before  its  advancing  waters. 
So  it  is  with  the  Church.  At  a  given  date  we  may  be  unable 
to  determine  whether  it  is  aggressive,  stationary,  or  retrograde. 
But  when  we  compare  its  circumstances  at  distant  intervals, 
we  easily  form  a  judgment.  From  the  first  to  the  fourth  cent- 
ury, Christianity  moved  forward  like  the  flowing  tide  ;  and  yet 
its  advance,  during  any  one  year,  was  not  very  perceptible. 
When,  however,  we  contrast  its  weakness  at  the  death  of  the 
Apostle  John  with  its  strength  immediately  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  last  imperial  persecution,  we  can  not  but 
acknowledge  its  amazing  progress.  At  the  termination  of 
the  first  century,  its  adherents  were  a  little  flock,  thinly  scat- 
tered over  the  Empire.  In  the  reign  of  Diocletian,  such  was 
even  their  numerical  importance  that  no  prudent  statesman 
would  have  thought  it  safe  to  overlook  them  in  the  business 
of  legislation.  They  held  military  appointments  of  high  re- 
sponsibility ;  they  were  to  be  found  in  some  of  the  most  hon- 
orable civil  offices  ;  they  were  admitted  to  the  court  of  the 
sovereign  ;  and  in  not  a  few  cities  they  constituted  a  most  in- 
fluential section  of  the  population.     The  wife  of  Diocletian, 

'  Euseb.  viii.  I. 


GRADUAL   ADVANCENENT   OF   CHRISTIANITY.  25/ 

and  his  daughter  Valeria,  are  said  to  have  been  Christians, 
The  Gospel  had  now  passed  over  the  boundaries  of  the  Em- 
pire, and  had  made  conquests  among  savages,  some  of  whom 
had,  perhaps,  scarcely  ever  heard  of  the  majesty  of  Rome. 
But  it  did  not  establish  its  dominion  unopposed,  and  in  tracing 
its  annals,  we  must  not  neglect  to  notice  the  history  of  its 
persecutions. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   PERSECUTIONS   OF  THE   CHURCH. 

The  persecutions  of  the  early  Church  form  an  important 
and  deeply  interesting  portion  of  its  history.  When  its  Great 
Author  died  on  the  accursed  tree,  Christianity  was  baptized 
in  blood  ;  and  for  several  centuries  its  annals  consist  largely 
of  details  of  proscription  and  of  suffering.  God  could  have 
introduced  the  Gospel  among  men  amidst  the  shouts  of  ap- 
plauding nations,  but  "  He  doeth  all  things  well";  and  He 
doubtless  saw  that  the  way  in  which  its  reign  was  actually  in- 
augurated, was  better  fitted  to  exhibit  His  glory,  and  to  attest 
its  excellence.  Multitudes,  who  might  otherwise  have  trifled 
with  the  great  salvation,  were  led  to  think  of  it  more  serious- 
ly when  they  saw  that  it  prompted  its  professors  to  encounter 
such  tremendous  sacrifices.  As  the  heathen  bystanders  gazed 
on  the  martyrdom  of  a  husband  and  a  master,  and  as  they 
observed  the  unflinching  fortitude  with  which  he  endured  his 
anguish,  they  often  became  deeply  pensive.  They  exclaimed, 
"  The  man  has  children,  we  believe — a  wife  he  has,  unques- 
tionably— and  yet  he  is  not  unnerved  by  these  ties  of  kindred  ; 
he  is  not  turned  from  his  purpose  by  these  claims  of  affection. 
We  must  look  into  the  affair — we  must  get  at  the  bottom  of 
it.  Be  it  what  it  may,  it  can  be  no  trifle  which  makes  one 
ready  to  suffer  and  willing  to  die  for  it." '  The  effects  pro- 
duced on  spectators  by  the  heroism  of  the  Christians  can  not 
have  escaped  the  notice  of  the  heathen  magistrates.  The 
Church  herself  was  well  aware  of  the  credit  she  derived  from 
these  displays  of  the  constancy  of  her  children  ;  and  hence,  in 

'  Cyprian,  "  De  Laude  Martyrii,"  Opera,  pp.  620,  621.     See  also  Tertul- 
lian,  "  Ad  Scapulam,"  c.  5,  adfinem, 
(258) 


GRACES   EXHIBITED   IN   PERSECUTION.  259 

an  address  to  the  persecutors  which  appeared  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  third  century,  the  ardent  writer  boldly  invites 
them  to  proceed  with  the  work  of  butchery.  "  Go  on,"  says 
he  tauntingly,  "  ye  good  governors,  so  much  better  in  the 
eyes  of  the  people  if  ye  sacrifice  the  Christians  to  them — rack, 
torture,  condemn,  grind  us  to  powder — ^our  numbers  increase 
in  proportion  as  you  mow  us  down.  The  blood  of  Christians 
is  their  harvest-seed — that  very  obstinacy  with  which  you  up- 
braid us,  is  a  teacher.  For  who  is  not  incited  by  the  contem- 
plation of  it  to  inquire  what  there  is  in  the  core  of  the  matter? 
and  who,  that  has  inquired,  does  not  join  us?  and  who,  that 
joins  us,  does  not  long  to  suffer  ?  "  ' 

In  another  point  of  view,  the  perils  connected  with  a  profes- 
sion of  the  Gospel  exercised  a  wholesome  influence.  Compara- 
tively few  undecided  characters  joined  the  communion  of  the 
Church  ;  and  thus  its  members,  as  a  body,  displayed  much  con- 
sistency and  steadfastness.  The  purity  of  the  Christian  morali- 
ty was  never  seen  to  more  advantage  than  in  those  days  of  perse- 
cution, as  every  one  who  joined  the  hated  sect  was  understood 
to  possess  the  spirit  of  a  martyr.  And  never  did  the  graces 
of  the  religion  of  the  cross  appear  in  more  attractive  lustre 
than  when  its  disciples  were  groaning  under  the  inflictions  of 
imperial  tyranny.  As  some  plants  yield  their  choicest  odors 
only  under  the  influence  of  pressure,  it  would  seem  as  if  the 
Gospel  reserved  its  richest  supplies  of  patience,  strength,  and 
consolation  for  times  of  trouble  and  alarm.  Piety  never  more 
decisively  asserts  its  celestial  birth  than  when  it  stands  un- 
blenched  under  the  frown  of  the  persecutor,  or  calmly  awaits 
the  shock  of  death.  In  the  second  and  third  centuries  an  un- 
believing world  often  looked  on  with  wonder  as  the  Christians 
submitted  to  torment  rather  than  renounce  their  faith.  Nor 
were  spectators  more  impressed  by  the  amount  of  suffering 
sustained  by  the  confessors  and  the  martyrs,  than  by  the 
spirit  with  which  they  endured  their  trials.  They  approached 
their  tortures  in  no  temper  of  dogged  obstinacy  or  sullen  defi- 
ance.    They  rejoiced  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer 

'  TertuUian,  "  Apol."  50. 


260  DOMESTIC   AND   SOCIAL   GRIEVANCES. 

in  SO  good  a  cause.  They  manifested  a  self-possession,  a 
meekness  of  wisdom,  a  gentleness,  and  a  cheerfulness,  at  which 
the  multitude  were  amazed.  Nor  were  these  proofs  of  Chris- 
tian magnanimity  confined  to  any  one  class  of  sufferers.  Chil- 
dren and  delicate  females,  illiterate  artisans  and  poor  slaves, 
sometimes  evinced  as  much  intrepidity  and  decision  as  hoary- 
headed  pastors.  The  victims  of  intolerance  were  upheld  by  a 
power  which  was  divine,  and  of  which  philosophy  could  give 
no  explanation. 

We  form  a  most  inadequate  estimate  of  the  trials  of  the 
early  Christians,  if  we  take  into  account  only  those  sufferings 
they  endured  from  the  hands  of  the  pagan  magistrates.  Cir- 
cumstances which  seldom  came  under  the  eye  of  public  ob- 
servation not  unfrequently  kept  them  for  life  in  a  state  of 
disquietude.  Idolatry  was  so  interwoven  with  the  very  text- 
ure of  society  that  the  adoption  of  the  new  faith  sometimes 
abruptly  deprived  an  individual  of  the  means  of  subsistence. 
If  he  was  a  statuary,  he  could  no  longer  employ  himself  in 
carving  images  of  the  gods  ;  if  a  painter,  he  could  no  more 
expend  his  skill  in  decorating  the  high  places  of  superstition. 
To  earn  a  livelihood,  he  must  either  seek  out  a  new  sphere 
for  the  exercise  of  his  art,  or  betake  himself  to  some  new  oc- 
cupation. The  Christian,  if  a  merchant,  was,  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, at  the.  mercy  of  those  with  whom  he  transacted  business. 
When  his  property  passed  into  the  hands  of  dishonest  heathens, 
he  was  often  unable  to  recover  it,  as  the  pagan  oaths  admin- 
istered in  the  courts  of  justice  prevented  him  from  appealing 
for  redress  to  the  laws  of  the  Empire.'  Were  he  placed  in 
circumstances  which  enabled  him  to  surmount  this  difficulty, 
he  could  not  afford  to  exasperate  his  debtors ;  as  they  might 
have  so  easily  retaliated  by  accusing  him  of  Christianity.  The 
wealthy  disciple  durst  not  accept  the  office  of  a  magistrate, 
for  he  would  have  thus  only  betrayed  his  creed ;  neither 
could  he  venture  to  aspire  to  any  of  the  honors  of  the  State, 
as  his  promotion  must  have  aggravated  the  perils  of  his  posi- 
tion.    Our  Saviour  had  said,  "  I  am  come  to  set  a  man  at  va- 

•  Tertullian,  "  Dc  Idololatria,"  c.  17. 


ROMAN   TOLERATION.  261 

riance  against  his  father,  and  the  daughter  against  her  moth- 
er, and  the  daughter-in-law  against  her  mother-in-law  ;  and  a 
man's  foes  shall  be  they  of  his  own  household."  '  These  words 
were  now  verified  with  such  woful  accuracy  that  the  distrust 
pervading  the  domestic  circle  often  embittered  the  whole  life 
of  the  believer.  The  slave  informed  against  his  Christian 
master ;  the  husband  divorced  his  Christian  wife  ;  and  chil- 
dren who  embraced  the  Gospel  were  sometimes  disinherited 
by  their  enraged  parents/  As  the  followers  of  the  cross  con- 
templated the  hardships  which  beset  them  on  every  side,  well 
might  they  have  exclaimed  in  the  words  of  the  apostle,  "  If 
in  this  life  only  we  have  hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men 
most  miserable."  ^ 

In  the  first  century  the  very  helplessness  of  the  Church 
served  partially  to  protect  it  from  persecution.  Its  adherents 
were  then  almost  all  in  very  humble  circumstances ;  and  their 
numbers  were  not  such  as  to  inspire  the  sovereign  with  any 
political  anxiety.  When  they  were  harassed  by  the  unbeliev- 
ing Jews,  the  civil  magistrate  sometimes  interposed,  and 
spread  over  them  the  shield  of  toleration  ;  and  though  Nero 
and  Domitian  were  their  persecutors,  the  treatment  they  ex- 
perienced from  two  princes  so  generally  abhorred  for  cruelty 
elicited  a  measure  of  public  sympathy.*  At  length,  however, 
the  Roman  government,  even  when  administered  by  sov- 
ereigns noted  for  political  virtues,  began  to  assume  an  attitude 
of  decided  opposition  ;  and,  for  many  generations,  the  disciples 
were  constantly  exposed  to  the  hostility  of  their  pagan  rulers. 

The  Romans  acted  so  far  upon  the  principle  of  toleration 
as  to  permit  the  various  nations  reduced  under  their  dominion 
to  adhere  to  whatever  religion  they  had  previously  professed. 
They  were  led  to  pursue  this  policy  by  the  combined  dictates 
of  expediency  and  superstition  ;  for  they  knew  that  they  more 
easily  preserved  their  conquests  by  granting  indulgence  to  the 
vanquished,  and  they  believed  that  each  country  had  its  own 

'  Matt.  X.  35,  36. 

'  Tertullian,  "Apia!."  c.  3,  and  "Ad  Nationes,"  i.  §  4.         '  i  Cor.  xv.  19. 
*  The  Christians  long  gloried  in  the  fact  that  Nero  was  their  first  perse- 
cutor.    See  Tertullian,  "  Apol."  c.  5. 


262  PERSECUTION   IN   BITHYNIA. 

tutelary  guardians.  But  they  looked  with  the  utmost  sus- 
picion on  all  new  systems  of  religion.  Such  novelties,  they 
conceived,  were  connected  with  designs  against  the  State  ;  and 
should,  therefore,  be  sternly  discountenanced.  Hence  it  was 
that  Christianity  so  soon  met  with  opposition  from  the  im- 
perial government.  For  a  time  it  was  confounded  with  Juda- 
ism, and,  as  such,  was  regarded  as  entitled  to  the  protection 
ot  the  laws ;  but  when  its  true  character  was  ascertained,  the 
disciples  were  involved  in  all  the  penalties  attached  to  the  ad- 
herents of  an  unlicensed  worship. 

Very  early  in  the  second  century  the  power  of  the  State 
was  turned  against  the  Gospel.  About  a.d.  107,  the  far-famed 
Ignatius,  the  pastor  of  Antioch,  suffered  martyrdom.  Soon 
afterward  our  attention  is  directed  to  the  unhappy  condition 
of  the  Church  by  a  correspondence  between  the  celebrated 
Pliny  and  the  Emperor  Trajan.  In  Bithynia,  of  which  Pliny 
was  governor,  the  new  faith  was  rapidly  spreading;  and  those 
who  derived  their  subsistence  from  the  maintenance  of  super- 
stition, had  taken  the  alarm.  The  proconsul  had,  therefore, 
been  importuned  to  commence  a  persecution  ;  and  as  exist- 
ing statutes  supplied  him  with  no  very  definite  instructions 
respecting  the  method  of  procedure,  he  deemed  it  necessary 
to  seek  directions  from  his  imperial  master.  He  stated,  at 
the  same  time,  the  course  he  had  hitherto  pursued.  If  indi- 
viduals arraigned  before  his  judgment-seat,  and  accused  of 
Christianity,  refused  to  repudiate  the  obnoxious  creed,  they 
were  condemned  to  death  ;  but  if  they  abjured  the  Gospel, 
they  were  permitted  to  escape  unscathed.  Trajan  approved 
of  this  policy,  and  it  now  became  the  law  of  the  Empire. 

In  his  letter  to  his  sovereign"  Pliny  has  given  a  very  favor- 
able account  of  the  Christian  morality,  and  has  virtually  ad- 
mitted that  the  new  religion  was  admirably  fitted  to  promote 
the  good  of  the  community.  He  mentions  that  the  members 
of  the  Church  were  bound  by  solemn  obligations  to  abstain 
from  theft,  robbery,  and  adultery;  to  keep  their  promises,  and 
to  avoid  every  form  of  wickedness.     When  such  was  their  ac- 

'  Plinii,  "Epist."  lib.  x.,  epist.  97. 


SIMEON   OF  JERUSALEM.  263 

knowledged  character,  it  may  appear  extraordinary  that  a 
sagacious  prince  and  a  magistrate  of  highly-cultivated  mind 
concurred  in  thinking  that  they  should  be  treated  with  ex- 
treme rigor.  We  have  here,  however,  a  striking  example  of 
the  military  spirit  of  Roman  legislation.  The  laws  of  the 
Empire  made  no  proper  provision  for  the  rights  of  conscience  ; 
and  they  were  based  throughout  upon  the  principle  that  im- 
plicit obedience  is  the  first  duty  of  a  subject.  Neither  Pliny 
nor  Trajan  could  understand  why  a  Christian  did  not  renounce 
his  creed  at  the  bidding  of  the  civil  governor.  In  their  esti- 
mation, "inflexible  obstinacy"  in  confessing  the  Saviour  was 
a  crime  which  deserved  no  less  a  penalty  than  death. 

Though  the  rescript  of  Trajan  awarded  capital  punishment 
to  the  man  who  persisted  in  acknowledging  himself  a  Chris- 
tian, it  also  required  that  the  disciples  were  not  to  be  in- 
quisitively sought  after.  The  zeal  of  many  of  the  enemies  of 
the  Church  was  checked  by  this  provision  ;  as  those  who  at- 
tempted to  hunt  down  the  faithful  expressly  violated  the 
spirit  of  the  imperial  enactment.  But  still  some  Christians 
suffered  the  penalty  of  a  good  confession.  Pliny  himself  ad- 
mits that  individuals  brought  before  his  own  tribunal,  and 
who  could  not  be  induced  to  recant,  were  capitally  punished ; 
and  elsewhere  the  law  was  not  permitted  to  remain  in  abey- 
ance. About  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Trajan,  Simeon,  the 
senior  minister  of  Jerusalem,  in  the  hundred  and  twentieth 
year  of  his  age,  fell  a  victim  to  its  severity.  This  martyr  was, 
probably,  the  second  son  of  Mary,  the  mother  of  our  Lord, 
and  the  same  who  is  enumerated  in  the  Gospels '  among  the 
brethren  of  Christ ;  for  the  chronology  accords  with  the  sup- 

'  Matt.  xiii.  55  ;  Mark  vi.  3.  Simon  and  Simeon  are  the  same.  See  Acts 
XV.  7,  14.  That  the  mother  of  our  Lord  had  other  children  appears,  as  well 
from  the  texts  quoted,  as  from  Matt.  i.  25  ;  Mark  iii.  31  ;  and  Luke  ii.  7.  In 
Scripture,  brethren  sometimes  signify  cousins,  but  Jesus  is  said  to  have  been 
Mary's  ''first-born  son."  His  brethren  are  always  found  in  company  with  H  is 
mother,  and  it  is  said  they  "  did  not  believe  in  him  "  (John  vii.  5),  though 
some  of  His  cousins  were  among  the  apostles.  Gal.  i.  19;  Acts  i.  13.  The 
superstitious  regard  for  celibacy  gave  birth  to  the  doctrine  of  the  perpetual 
virginity  of  Mary. 


264  CLAMORS   OF  THE   MOB, 

position  that  he  was  a  year  younger  than  our  Saviour.'  His 
relationship  to  Jesus,  his  great  age,  and  his  personal  excel- 
lence secured  for  him  a  most  influential  position  in  the  mother 
Church  of  Christendom  ;  and  hence,  by  writers  who  flourished 
afterward,  and  who  express  themselves  in  the  language  of 
their  generation,  he  is  called  the  second  bishop  of  Jerusalem. 
Though  the  rescript  of  Trajan  served  for  a  time  to  restrain 
the  violence  of  persecution,  it  pronounced  the  profession  of 
Christianity  illegal ;  so  that  doubts,  which  had  hitherto  ex- 
isted as  to  the  interpretation  of  the  law,  could  no  longer  be 
entertained.  The  heathen  priests,  and  others  interested  in 
the  support  of  idolatry,  did  not  neglect  to  proclaim  a  fact  so 
discouraging  to  the  friends  of  the  Gospel.  The  law,  indeed, 
still  presented  difficulties,  for  an  accuser  who  failed  to  sub- 
stantiate his  charge  was  liable  to  punishment ;  but  the  wily 
adversaries  of  the  Church  soon  contrived  to  evade  this 
obstacle.  When  the  people  met  together  on  great  public 
occasions,  as  at  the  celebration  of  their  games  or  festivals,  and 
when  the  interest  in  the  sports  began  to  flag,  attempts  were 
often  made  to  provide  them  with  a  new  and  more  exciting 
pastime  by  raising  the  cry  of  "The  Christians  to  the  Lions"; 
and  as,  at  such  times,  the  magistrates  had  been  long  accus- 
tomed to  yield  to  the  wishes  of  the  multitude,  many  of  the 
faithful  were  sacrificed  to  their  clamors.  Here,  no  one  was 
obliged  to  step  forward  and  hold  himself  responsible  for  the  truth 
of  an  indictment;  and  thus,  without  incurring  any  danger, 
personal  malice  and  blind  bigotry  had  free  scope  for  their  in- 
dulgence. In  the  reign  of  Hadrian,  the  successor  of  Trajan, 
the  Christians  were  sadly  harassed  by  these  popular  ebullitions  ; 
and  at  length  Quadratus  and  Aristides,  two  eminent  members 
of  the  Church  at  Athens,  presented  apologies  to  the  Emperor 
in  which  they  vividly  depicted  the  hardships  of  their  position. 
Scrcnius  Granianus,  the  Proconsul  of  Asia,  also  complained  to 

'  Trajan  died  A.D.  1 17,  and  if  Simeon  was  born  a  year  after  Jesus,  he  en- 
tered upon  the  120th  year  of  his  ag-e  about  the  close  of  this  Emperor's  reign. 
See  Greswell's  "Dissertations,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  127,  128.  It  was  the  opinion 
of  Tertullian  that  Mary  had  other  sons  after  she  gave  birth  to  our  Lord. 
See  Neander's  "  Antignostikus,"  and  Tertullian,  "  Uc  Monogamia,"  c.  8. 


MARCUS   AURELIUS.  265 

Hadrian  of  the  proceedings  of  the  mob  ;  and,  in  consequence, 
that  prince  issued  a  rescript  requiring  that  the  magistrates 
should  in  future  refuse  to  give  way  to  the  extempore  clamors 
of  public  meetings. 

Antoninus  Pius,  who  inherited  the  throne  on  the  demise  of 
Hadrian,  was  a  mild  sovereign  ;  and  under  him  the  faithful 
enjoyed  comparative  tranquillity;  but  his  successor,  Marcus 
Aurelius,  surnamed  the  Philosopher,  pursued  a  very  different 
policy.  Marcus  is  commonly  reputed  one  of  the  best  of  the 
Roman  Emperors;  at  a  very  early  period  of  life  he  gave 
promise  of  uncommon  excellence;  and  throughout  his  reign 
he  distinguished  himself  as  an  able  and  accomplished  mon- 
arch. But  he  was  proud,  pedantic,  and  self-sufficient ;  and, 
like  every  other  individual  destitute  of  spiritual  enlighten- 
ment, his  character  presented  the  most  glaring  inconsistencies; 
for  he  was  at  once  a  professed  Stoic,  and  a  devout  Pagan. 
This  prince  could  not  brook  the  contempt  with  which  the 
Christians  treated  his  philosophy ;  neither  was  he  prepared  to 
permit  them  to  think  for  themselves.  He  could  conceive  how 
an  individual,  yielding  to  the  stern  law  of  fate,  might  meet 
death  with  unconcern  ;  but  he  did  not  understand  how  the 
Christians'  gloried  in  tribulation,  and  hailed  even  martyrdom 
with  a  song  of  triumph.  Had  he  calmly  reflected  on  the 
spirit  displayed  by  the  witnesses  for  the  truth,  he  might  have 
seen  that  they  were  partakers  of  a  higher  wisdom  than  his 
own  ;  but  the  tenacity  with  which  they  adhered  to  their  prin- 
ciples, only  mortified  his  self-conceit,  and  roused  his  indigna- 
tion. This  philosophic  Emperor  was  the  most  systematic  and 
heartless  of  all  the  persecutors  who  had  ever  yet  oppressed 
the  Church.  When  Nero  lighted  up  his  gardens  with  the 
flames  which  issued  from  the  bodies  of  the  dying  Christians, 
he  wished  to  transfer  to  them  the  odium  of  the  burning  of 
Rome,  and  he  acted  only  with  the  caprice  and  cunning  of  a 
tyrant;  and  when  Domitian  promulgatedhis  cruel  edicts,  he 
was  haunted  with  the  dread  that  the  proscribed  sect  would 
raise  up  a  rival  sovereign;  but  Marcus  Aurelius  could  not 
plead  even  such  miserable  apologies.  He  hated  the  Christians 
with  the  cool  acerbity  of  a  Stoic ;  and  he  took  measures  for 


256  JUSTIN   MARTYR   AND   POLYCARP. 

their  extirpation  which  betrayed  at  once  his  folly  and  his 
malevolence.  Disregarding  the  law  of  Trajan,  which  required 
that  they  were  not  to  be  officiously  sought  after,  he  encouraged 
spies  and  informers  to  harass  them  with  accusations.  He 
caused  them  to  be  dragged  before  the  tribunals  of  the  magis- 
trates ;  and,  under  pain  of  death,  compelled  them  to  conform 
to  the  rites  of  idolatry.  With  a  refinement  of  cruelty  un- 
known to  his  predecessors,  he  employed  torture  for  the  pur- 
pose of  forcing  them  to  recant.  If,  in  their  agony,  they  gave 
way,  and  consented  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  they  were  re- 
leased ;  if  they  remained  firm,  they  were  permitted  to  die  in 
torment.  In  his  reign  we  read  of  novel  and  hideous  forms  of 
punishment — evidently  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  aggra- 
vating pain  and  terror.  The  Christians  were  stretched  on  the 
rack,  and  their  joints  were  dislocated  ;  their  bodies,  when 
lacerated  with  scourges,  were  laid  on  rough  sea-shells,  or  on 
other  most  uncomfortable  supports;  they  were  torn  to  pieces 
by  wild  beasts,  or  roasted  alive  on  heated  iron  chairs.  In- 
genuity was  called  to  the  ignoble  office  of  inventing  modes 
and  instruments  of  torture. 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  sufferers  of  this  reign  was 
Justin,  surnamed  the  Martyr.'  He  was  a  native  of  Samaria; 
but  he  had  travelled  into  various  countries,  and  had  studied 
various  systems  of  philosophy,  with  a  view  to  discover  the 
truth.  His  attention  had  at  length  been  directed  to  the 
Scriptures,  and  in  them  he  had  found  that  satisfaction  which 
he  did  not  obtain  elsewhere.  When  in  Rome,  he  came  into 
collision  with  Crcscens,  a  Cynic  philosopher,  whom  he  foiled 
in  a  theological  discussion.  His  unscrupulous  antagonist, 
annoyed  by  this  discomfiture,  turned  informer;  and  Justin, 
with  some  others,  was  put  to  death.  Shortly  afterward  Poly- 
carp,  the  aged  pastor  of  Smyrna,  was  committed  to  the  flames.* 
This  venerable  man,  who  had   been  acquainted  in  his  youth 

'  The  account  of  the  trial  of  himself  and  his  companions,  as  given  in  the 
"  Acta  Sincera  Martyrum,"  by  Ruinart,  bears  ail  the  marks  of  truth. 

*  An  account  of  his  martyrdom  is  given  in  a  circular  letter  of  the  Church 
of  Smyrna.  See  Jacobson's  "  Patres  Apostolici,"  torn,  ii.,  p.  542.  Euseb, 
iv.  15. 


POLYCARP.  267 

with  the  Apostle  John,  had  long  occupied  a  high  position  as 
a  prudent,  exemplary,  and  devoted  minister.  Informations 
were  laid  against  him,  and  orders  were  given  for  his  appre- 
hension. At  first  he  endeavored  to  elude  his  pursuers ;  but 
when  he  saw  that  escape  was  impossible,  he  surrendered  him- 
self a  prisoner.  After  all,  he  would  have  been  permitted  to 
remain  unharmed  had  he  consented  to  renounce  the  Gospel. 
In  the  sight  of  an  immense  throng  who  gloated  over  the  pros- 
pect of  his  execution,  the  good  old  man  remained  unmoved. 
When  called  on  to  curse  Christ,  he  returned  the  memorable 
answer,  "  Eighty  and  six  years  have  I  served  Him,  and  He 
has  done  me  nothing  but  good  ;  and  how  could  I  curse  Him, 
my  Lord  and  Saviour?"  "  I  will  cast  you  to  the  wild  beasts," 
said  the  Proconsul,  "  if  you  do  not  change  your  mind." 
"  Bring  the  wild  beasts  hither,"  replied  Polycarp,  "for  change 
my  mind  from  the  better  to  the  worse  I  will  not."  "  Despise 
you  the  wild  beasts  ?  "  exclaimed  the  magistrate,  "  I  will  sub- 
due your  spirit  by  the  flames."  "The  flames  which  you 
menace  endure  but  for  a  time  and  are  soon  extinguished," 
calmly  rejoined  the  prisoner,  "  but  there  is  a  fire  reserved  for 
the  wicked,  whereof  you  know  not ;  the  fire  of  a  judgment  to 
come  and  of  punishment  everlasting."  These  answers  put  an 
end  to  all  hope  of  pardon ;  a  pile  of  faggots  was  speedily  col- 
lected, and  Polycarp  was  burned  alive. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  or  about 
A.D.  177,  the  Churches  of  Lyons  and  Vienne '  in  France  en- 
dured one  of  the  most  horrible  persecutions  recorded  in  the 
annals  of  Christian  martyrdom.  A  dreadful  pestilence,  some 
years  before,  had  desolated  the  Empire ;  and  the  pagans  were 
impressed  with  the  conviction  that  the  new  religion  had  pro- 
voked the  visitation.  The  mob  in  various  cities  became, 
in  consequence,  exasperated  ;  and  demanded,  with  loud  cries, 
the  extirpation  of  the  hated  sectaries.  In  the  south  of  France 
a  considerable  time  elapsed  before  the  ill-will  of  the  multitude 
broke  out  into  open  violence.  At  first  the  disciples  in  Lyons  and 
Vienne  were  insulted  in  places  of  public  concourse ;  then,  when 

'  These  places  are  distant  from  each  other  about  seventeen  miles. 


268  CHURCHES   OF   LYONS   AND   VIENNE. 

pelted  with  stones,  they  shut  themselves  up  in  their  own 
houses.  They  were  subsequently  seized  and  thrown  into 
prison,  and  afterward  their  slaves  were  put  to  the  torture  and 
compelled  to  accuse  them  of  crimes  of  which  they  were  inno- 
cent.  Pothinus,  the  pastor  of  Lyons,  upwards  of  ninety  years 
of  age,  was  brought  before  the  governor  and  so  roughly 
handled  by  the  populace  that  he  died  two  days  after  he 
was  thrown  into  confinement.  The  other  prisoners  were 
plied  with  hunger  and  thirst,  and  then  put  to  death  with  wan- 
ton and  studied  cruelty.  Two  of  the  sufferers — Blandina,  a 
female,  and  Ponticus,  a  lad  of  fifteen — displayed  singular 
calmness  and  intrepidity.  For  several  days  they  were 
obliged  to  witness  the  tortures  inflicted  on  their  fellow-disci- 
ples, that  they  might,  if  possible,  be  intimidated  by  the  ap- 
palling spectacle.  After  passing  through  this  ordeal  the  tort- 
ure was  applied  to  themselves.  Ponticus  soon  sunk  under 
his  sufferings,  but  Blandina  still  survived.  When  she  had  sus- 
tained the  agony  of  the  heated  iron  chair,  she  was  put  into  a 
net  and  thrown  to  a  wild  bull  to  be  trampled  and  torn  by 
him,  and  she  continued  to  breathe  long  after  she  had  been 
sadly  mangled  by  the  infuriated  animal.  While  subjected  to 
these  terrible  inflictions  she  exhibited  the  utmost  patience. 
No  boasts  escaped  her  lips,  no  murmurs  were  uttered  by  her, 
and  even  in  the  paroxysms  of  her  anguish  she  was  full  of  faith 
and  courage.  But  such  touching  exhibitions  of  the  spirit  of 
the  Gospel  failed  to  repress  the  fury  of  the  excited  populace. 
Their  hatred  of  the  Gospel  was  so  intense  that  they  resolved 
to  deprive  the  disciples  who  survived  this  reign  of  terror,  of 
the  melancholy  satisfaction  of  paying  the  last  tribute  of  re- 
spect to  the  remains  of  their  martyred  brethren.  They  ac- 
cordingly burned  the  dead  bodies  and  then  cast  the  ashes  into 
the  Rhone.  "  Now,"  said  they,  "  we  shall  see  whether  they 
will  rise  again,  and  whether  God  can  help  them  and  deliver 
them  out  of  our  hands."  ' 

Under  the  brutal  and  bloody  Commodus,  the  son  and  heir 
of  Marcus  Aurclius,  the  Christians  had  some  repose.     Marcia, 

'  Euseb.  V.  I. 


COMMODUS,  PERTINAX,  AND   JULIAN.  269 

his  favorite  concubine,  was  a  member  of  the  Church/  and  her 
influence  was  successfully  exerted  in  protecting  her  co-rehg- 
ionists.  But  the  penal  statutes  were  still  in  force,  and  they 
were  not  everywhere  permitted  to  remain  a  dead-letter.  In 
this  reign ""  we  meet  with  some  of  the  earliest  indications  of 
that  zeal  for  martyrdom  which  was  properly  the  spawn  of  the 
fanaticism  of  the  Montanists.  In  a  certain  district  of  Asia  a 
multitude  of  persons,  actuated  by  this  absurd  passion,  pre- 
sented themselves  in  a  body  before  the  proconsul  Arrius  An- 
toninus and  proclaimed  themselves  Christians.  The  sight  of 
such  a  crowd  of  victims  appalled  the  magistrate ;  and,  after 
passing  judgment  on  a  few,  he  drove  the  remainder  from  his 
tribunal,  exclaiming:  "Miserable  men,  if  you  wish  to  kill 
yourselves,  you  have  ropes  or  precipices." 

The  reigns  of  Pertinax  and  Julian,  the  Emperors  next  in 
succession  after  Commodus,  amounted  together  only  to  a  few 
months,  and  the  faithful  had  meanwhile  to  struggle  with  many 
discouragements  f  but  these  short-lived  sovereigns  were  so  much 
occupied  with  other  matters  that  they  had  not  time  for  legisla- 
tion on  the  subject  of  religion,  Septimius  Severus,  who  now  ob- 
tained the  imperial  dignity,  was  at  first  not  unfriendly  to  the 
Church  ;  and  a  cure  performed  on  him  by  Proculus,  a  Chris- 
tian slave,*  has  been  assigned  as  the  cause  of  his  forbearance  ; 
but,  as  his  reign  advanced,  he  assumed  an  offensive  attitude, 

'  Among  the  Romans  a  concubine  held  a  certain  legal  position,  and  was 
in  fact  a  wife  with  inferior  privileges.  Converted  concubines  were  admitted 
to  the  communion  of  the  ancient  Church.  See  Bunsen's  "  Hippolytus," 
iii.  7. 

"  Mosheim  ("  Commentaries  "  by  Vidal,  ii.  52,  note)  and  many  others  re- 
fer the  transaction  recorded  in  the  text  to  the  reign  of  Hadrian,  but  without 
any  good  cause.  Tertullian,  who  tells  the  story  ("  Ad  Scapulam,"  c.  5), 
evidently  alludes  to  a  transaction  which  had  recently  occurred.  In  the 
reign  of  Commodus  there  was  a  proconsul  named  Arrius  Antoninus  who 
was  put  to  death.  See  Lamprid.,  "Vita  Commodi,"  c.  6,  7.  See  also 
Kaye's  "  Tertullian,"  p.  146,  note  ;  and  "  Neander's  General  History,"  by 
Torrey,  i.  162,  note. 

'  Clemens  Alexandrinus  apparently  refers  to  the  times  immediately  fol_ 
lowing  the  death  of  Commodus  when  he  says :  "  Many  martyrs  are  daily 
burned,  crucified,  and  decapitated  before  our  eyes."     Strom.,  lib.  ii.,  p.  414. 

*  Tertullian,  "  Ad  Scapulam,"  c.  4. 


270  THE   LIBELLATICI. 

and  the  disciples  suffered  considerably  under  his  administra- 
tion. As  the  Christians  were  still  obliged  to  meet  at  night 
to  celebrate  their  worship,  they  were  accused  of  committing 
unnatural  crimes  in  their  nocturnal  assemblies  ;  and  though 
these  heartless  calumnies  had  been  triumphantly  refuted  fifty 
or  sixty  years  before,  they  were  revived  and  circulated  with 
fresh  industry.'  About  this  period  Leonides,  the  father  of  the 
learned  Origen,  was  put  to  death.  By  a  law  promulgated  in 
A.D.  202,  the  Emperor  interdicted  conversions  to  Christianity ; 
and,  at  a  time  when  the  Church  was  making  vigorous  en- 
croachments on  heathenism,  this  enactment  created  much 
embarrassment  and  anxiety.  Some  of  the  governors  of  prov- 
inces, as  soon  as  they  ascertained  the  disposition  of  the  impe- 
rial court,  commenced  forthwith  a  persecution ;  and  there 
were  magistrates  who  proceeded  to  enforce  the  laws  for  the 
base  purpose  of  extorting  money  from  the  parties  obnoxious 
to  their  severity.  Sometimes  individuals  and  sometimes 
whole  congregations  purchased  immunity  from  suffering  by 
entering  into  pecuniary  contracts  with  corrupt  and  avaricious 
rulers,  and,  by  the  payment  of  a  certain  sum,  obtained  certi- 
ficates" which  protected  them  from  all  further  inquisition.' 
The  purport  of  these  documents  has  been  the  subject  of  much 
discussion.  According  to  some  they  contained  a  distinct  state- 
ment to  the  effect  that  those  named  in  them  had  sacrificed  to 
the  gods,  and  had  thus  satisfied  the  law ;  others  allege  that, 
though  they  guaranteed  protection,  they  neither  directly 
stated  an  untruth  nor  compromised  the  religious  consistency 
of  their  possessors.  The  more  scrupulous  and  zealous  Chris- 
tians uniformly  condemned  the  use  of  such  certificates.  Their 
owners  were  known  by  the  suspicious  designation  of  "  Libel- 
latici,"  or  "  the  Certified  ";  and  were  considered  only  less  crim- 
inal than  the  "  Thurificati,"  or  those  who  had  actually  apos- 
tatized by  offering  incense  on  the  altars  of  paganism.* 

'Compare  Justin  Martyr.  "  Apol.,"  ii.,  pp.  70.  71,  and  "  Dial,  cum  Try- 
phone,"  p.  227,  with  Tertullian,  "  Apol.,''  c.  7.  '  Called  libelhs. 

'  These  parties  sometimes  appealed  to  Acts  xvii.  9,  in  justification  of  their 
conduct. 

*  The  sacrtficnti,  or  those  who  had  sacrificed  as  well  as  offered  incense, 
were  considered  still  more  guilty. 


PERPETUA  AND   FELICITAS.  2/1 

About  this  time  the  enforcement  of  the  penal  laws  in  a  part 
of  North  Africa,  probably  in  Carthage,  led  to  a  most  impres- 
sive display  of  some  of  the  noblest  features  of  the  Christian 
character.  Five  catechumens,  or  candidates  for  baptism, 
among  whom  were  Perpetua  and  Felicitas,'  had  been  put  un- 
der arrest.  Perpetua,  only  two  and  twenty  years  of  age,  was 
a  lady  of  rank  and  of  singularly  prepossessing  appearance. 
Accustomed  to  all  the  comforts  which  wealth  can  procure,  she 
was  ill  fitted,  with  a  child  at  the  breast,  to  sustain  the  rigors 
of  confinement,  especially  as  she  was  thrown  into  a  crowded 
dungeon  during  the  oppressive  heat  of  an  African  summer. 
But,  with  her  infant  in  her  arms,  she  cheerfully  submitted  to 
privations,  and  the  thought  that  she  was  persecuted  for  Christ's 
sake  converted  her  prison  into  a  palace.  Her  father,  a  respect- 
able pagan,  was  overwhelmed  with  distress  because,  as  he  con- 
ceived, she  brought  deep  and  lasting  disgrace  upon  her  family 
by  joining  a  proscribed  sect ;  and,  as  she  was  his  favorite  child, 
he  employed  every  expedient  which  paternal  tenderness  and 
anxiety  could  dictate  to  lead  her  to  a  recantation.  When 
she  was  conducted  to  the  judgment-seat  with  the  other  pris- 
oners, the  aged  gentleman  appeared  there,  to  try  the  effect  of 
another  appeal  to  her  ;  and  the  presiding  magistrate,  touched 
with  pity,  entreated  her  to  listen  to  his  arguments,  and  to 
change  her  resolution.  But,  though  deeply  moved  by  the 
anguish  of  her  parent,  all. these  attempts  to  shake  her  con- 
stancy were  in  vain.  At  the  place  of  execution  she  sung  a 
psalm  of  victory,  and,  before  she  expired,  exhorted  her 
brother  and  another  catechumen,  named  Rusticus,  to  con- 
tinue in  the  faith,  to  love  each  other,  and  to  be  neither  af- 
frighted nor  offended  by  her  sufferings.  Her  companion, 
Felicitas,  exhibited  quite  as  illustrious  a  specimen  of  Christian 
heroism.  When  arrested,  she  was  far  advanced  in  pregnancy, 
and  during  her  imprisonment  the  pains  of  labor  came  upon 
her.     Her  cries  arrested  the  attention  of  the  jailer,  who  said 

1  "  Acta  Perpetus  et  Felicitatis."  The  martyrs  appear  to  have  been  Mon- 
tanists.  See  Gieseler,  by  Cunningham,  i.  125,  note.  Tertullian  mentions 
Perpetua,  and  his  language  countenances  the  supposition  that  she  was  a 
Montanist.     "  De  Anima,"  c.  55. 


272  PHILIP   THE   ARABIAN. 

to  her,  "  If  your  present  sufferings  are  so  great,  what  will  you 
do  when  you  are  thrown  to  the  wild  beasts  ?  You  did  not 
consider  this  when  you  refused  to  sacrifice."  With  undaunted 
spirit  Felicitas  replied,  "  It  is  /that  suffer  7iow,  but  then  there 
will  be  Another  with  me,  who  will  suffer  for  me,  because  I 
shall  suffer  for  His  sake."  The  prisoners  were  condemned  to 
be  torn  by  wild  beasts  on  the  occasion  of  an  approaching 
festival  ;  and  when  they  had  passed  through  this  terrible  or- 
deal, they  were  dispatched  with  the  sword. 

After  the  death  of  Septimius  Severus,  the  Christians  experi- 
enced some  abatement  of  their  sufferings.  Caracalla  and 
Elagabalus  permitted  them  to  remain  almost  undisturbed  ; 
and  Alexander  Severus  has  been  supposed  by  some  to  have 
been  himself  a  believer.  Among  the  images  in  his  private 
chapel  was  a  representation  of  Christ,  and  he  was  obviously 
convinced  that  Jesus  possessed  divine  endowments  ;  but  there 
is  no  proof  that  he  ever  accepted  unreservedly  the  New  Testa- 
ment revelation.  He  was  simply  an  eclectic  philosopher  who 
held  that  a  portion  of  truth  was  to  be  found  in  each  of  the 
current  systems  of  religion ;  and  who  undertook  to  analyze 
them  and  extract  the  spiritual  treasure.  The  Emperor  Maxi- 
min  was  less  friendly  to  the  Church  ;  and  yet  his  enmity  was 
confined  chiefly  to  those  Christian  ministers  who  had  been 
favorites  with  his  predecessor ;  so  that  he  can  not  be  said  to 
have  promoted  any  general  perseqjution.  Under  Gordian  the 
disciples  were  free  from  molestation ;  and  his  successor, 
Philip  the  Arabian,  was  so  well  affected  to  their  cause  that 
he  has  been  sometimes,  though  erroneously,  represented  as 
the  first  Christian  Emperor.'  The  death  of  this  monarch  in 
A.D.  249  was,  however,  soon  followed  by  the  fiercest  and  the 
most  extensive  persecution  under  which  the  faithful  had  yet 
groaned.  The  more  zealous  of  the  pagans,  who  had  been 
long  witnessing  with  impatience  the  growth  of  Christianity, 
had  become  convinced  that,  if  the  old  religion  were  to  be  up- 
held, a  mighty  effort  must  very  soon  be  made  to  strangle  its 

'  See  the  "  Chronicon  "  of  Eusebius,  par.  ii.,  adnot,  p.  197.  Edit.  Venet. 
1818. 


THE  DECIAN   PERSECUTION.  273 

rival.  Various  expedients  were  meanwhile  employed  to 
prejudice  the  multitude  against  the  Gospel.  Every  disaster 
which  occurred  throughout  the  Empire  was  attributed  to  its 
evil  influence  ;  the  defeat  of  a  general,  the  failure  of  a  harvest, 
the  overflowing  of  the  Tiber,  the  desolations  of  a  hurricane, 
and  the  appearance  of  a  pestilence,  were  all  ascribed  to  its 
most  inauspicious  advancement.  The  public  mind  was  thus 
gradually  prepared  for  measures  of  extreme  severity ;  and 
Decius,  who  now  became  emperor,  aimed  at  the  utter  extirpa- 
tion of  Christianity.  All  persons  suspected  of  attachment  to 
the  Gospel  were  summoned  before  the  civil  authorities  ;  and  if, 
regardless  of  intimidation,  they  refused  to  sacrifice,  attempts 
were  made  to  overcome  their  constancy  by  torture,  by  im- 
prisonment, and  by  starvation.  When  all  such  expedients 
failed,  the  punishment  of  death  was  inflicted.  Those  who 
fled  before  the  day  appointed  for  their  appearance  in  pres- 
ence of  the  magistrates,  forfeited  their  property  ;  and  were 
forbidden,  under  the  penalty  of  death,  to  return  to  the  dis- 
trict. The  Church  in  many  places  had  enjoyed  peace  for 
thirty  years,  and  meanwhile  the  tone  of  Christian  principle 
had  been  considerably  lowered.  It  was  not  strange,  there- 
fore, that,  in  these  perilous  days,  many  apostatized.'  The 
conduct  of  not  a  few  of  the  more  opulent  Christians  of  Alex- 
andria has  been  graphically  described  by  a  contemporary. 
"  As  they  were  severally  called  by  name,  they  approached  the 
unholy  offering ;  some,  pale  and  trembling,  as  if  they  were 
going,  not  to  sacrifice,  but  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  gods ;  so 
that  they  were  jeered  by  the  mob  who  thronged  around  them, 
as  it  was  plain  to  all  that  they  were  equally  afraid  to  sacrifice 
and  to   die.     Others    advanced   more    briskly,  carrying  their 

'  The  Roman  clergy  speak  of  "  the  remnants  and  ruined  heaps  of  the 
fallen  lying  on  all  sides."  Cyp.  "  Epist."  xxxi.,  p.  99.  Cyprian  complains 
oi  "  thousands  of  letters  given  daily"  in  behalf  of  the  lapsed  by  misguided 
confessors  and  martyrs.  "  Epist."  xiv.,  p.  59.  The  writer  here  probably 
speaks  somewhat  rhetorically,  and  evidently  does  not  mean,  as  some  have 
thought,  that  all  these  letters  were  written  at  Carthage.  He  speaks  of 
what  was  done  "  everywhere,"  including  Italy,  as  well  as  the  cities  of 
Africa.  "  Epist."  xiv.,  xxii.,  xxvi. 
18 


274  VALERIAN   PERSECUTION. 

effrontery  so  far  as  to  avow  that  they  never  had  been  Chris- 
tians."* Multitudes  now  withdrew  into  deserts  or  mountains, 
and  there  perished  with  cold  and  hunger.  The  prisons  were 
everywhere  crowded  with  Christians ;  and  the  magistrates 
were  occupied  with  the  odious  task  of  oppressing  and  de- 
stroying the  most  meritorious  of  their  fellow-citizens.  The 
disciples  were  sent  to  labor  in  the  mines,  branded  on  the  fore- 
head, subjected  to  mutilation,  and  reduced  to  the  lowest 
depth  of  misery.  In  this  persecution  the  pastors  were  treated 
with  marked  severity,  and  during  its  continuance  many  of 
them  suffered  martyrdom.  Among  the  most  distinguished 
victims  were  Fabian,  bishop  of  Rome ;  Babylas,  bishop  of  An- 
tioch,  and  Alexander,  bishop  of  Jerusalem." 

The  reign  of  Decius  was  short ; '  but  the  hardships  of  the 
Church  did  not  cease  with  its  termination,  as  Gallus  adopted 
the  policy  of  his  predecessor.  Though  Valerian,  the  succes- 
sor of  Gallus,  for  a  time  displayed  much  moderation,  he 
eventually  relinquished  this  pacific  course  ;  and,  instigated  by 
his  favorite,  Macrianus,*  an  Egyptian  soothsayer,  began,  about 
A.D.  257,  to  repeat  the  bloody  tragedy  which,  in  the  days  of 
Decius,  had  filled  the  Empire  with  such  terror  and  distress. 
At  first  the  pastors  were  driven  into  banishment,  and  the 
disciples  forbidden  to  meet  for  worship.  But  more  stringent 
measures  were  soon  adopted.  An  edict  appeared  announcing 
that  bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacons  were  to  be  put  to  death  ; 
that  senators  and  knights,  if  Christians,  were  to  forfeit  their 
rank  and  property;  that,  if  they  still  refused  to  repudiate 
their  principles,  they  were  to  be  capitally  punished ;  and  that 
members  of  the  Church  in  the  service  of  the  palace  were  to 
be  put  in  chains,  and  sent  to  labor  on  the  imperial  estates.' 
In  this  persecution,  Sixtus,  bishop  of  Rome,  and  Cyprian, 
bishop  of  Carthage,'  were  martyred. 

'  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  quoted  by  Euseb.  vi.  41. 
'  Euseb.  vi.  39. 

*  A.D.  249  to  A.D.  251.  *  Euseb.  vii.  10. 
'  Cyprian,  Epist.  82,  ad  Successum. 

•  Cyprian,  who  was  much  respected  personally  by  the  high  olTiccrs  ot 
government  at  Carthage,  was,  when  taken  prisoner,  granted  as  great  indul* 


DIOCLETIAN   PERSECUTION.  2/5 

On  the  accession  of  GalHenus,  in  A,D.  260,  the  Church  was 
once  more  restored  to  peace.  GalHenus,  though  a  person  of 
worthless  character,  was  the  first  Emperor  who  protected  the 
Christians  by  a  formal  edict  of  toleration.  He  commanded 
that  they  should  not  only  be  permitted  to  profess  their  re- 
ligion unmolested,  but  that  they  should  again  be  put  in  pos- 
session of  their  cemeteries '  and  of  all  other  property,  either 
in  houses  or  lands,  of  which  they  had  been  deprived  during 
the  reign  of  his  predecessor.  This  decree  was  nearly  as  ample 
in  its  provisions  as  that  issued  in  their  favor  by  the  great 
Constantine  upwards  of  half  a  century  afterward. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  advantages  secured  by  this  im- 
perial law,  the  Church  still  suffered  occasionally  in  particular 
districts.  Hostile  magistrates  might  plead  that  certain  edicts 
had  not  been  definitely  repealed  ;  and,  calculating  on  the  con- 
nivance of  the  higher  functionaries,  could  perpetrate  acts  of 
cruelty  and  oppression.  The  Emperor  Aurelian  had  even  re- 
solved to  resume  the  barbarous  policy  of  Decius  and  Valerian  ; 
and,  in  A.D.  275,  had  actually  prepared  a  sanguinary  edict  ; 
but,  before  it  was  executed,  death  stepped  in  to  arrest  his 
violence,  and  to  prevent  the  persecution.  Thus,  as  has  already 
been  intimated,  for  the  last  forty  years  of  the  third  century 
the  Christians  enjoyed,  almost  uninterruptedly,  the  blessiiigs 
of  toleration.  Spacious  edifices,  frequented  by  crowds  of 
worshippers,  and  some  of  them  furnished  with  sacramental 
vessels  of  silver  or  gold,''  were  to  be  seen  in  all  the  great  cities 
of  the  Empire.  But,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  centuiy, 
the  prospect  changed.  The  pagan  party  beheld  with  dismay 
the  rapid  extension  of  the  Church,  and  resolved  to  make  a 

gence  as  his  circumstances  permitted  ;  but  Gibbon,  who  describes  his  case 
with  special  minuteness,  most  uncandidly  represents  it  as  affording  an  aver- 
age specimen  of  the  style  in  which  condemned  Christians  were  treated _ 
As  an  evidence  of  the  social  position  of  the  bishop  of  Carthage  we  may  re- 
fer to  the  testimony  of  Pontius,  his  deacon,  who  states  that  "  numbers  of 
eminent  and  illustrious  persons,  men  of  rank  and  family  and  secular  dis- 
tinction, for  the  sake  of  their  old  friendship  with  him,  urged  him  many 
times  to  retire."     "  Life,"  §  14. 

*  Euseb.  vii.  13.  "  See  Bingham,  ii.,  p.  451. 


276  DIOCLETIAN   PERSECUTION. 

tremendous  effort  for  its  destruction.  This  faction,  pledged 
to  the  maintenance  of  idolatiy,  caused  its  influence  to  be  felt 
in  all  political  transactions ;  and  the  treatment  of  the  Chris- 
tians once  more  became  a  question  on  which  statesmen  were 
divided.  Diocletian,  who  was  made  Emperor  in  A.D.  285, 
continued  fgr  many  years  afterward  to  act  on  the  principle  of 
toleration ;  but  at  length  he  was  induced,  partly  by  the  sug- 
gestions of  his  own  superstitious  and  jealous  temper,  and 
partly  by  the  importunities  of  his  son-in-law,  Galerius,  to 
adopt  another  course.  The  persecution  commenced  in  the 
army,  where  all  soldiers  refusing  to  sacrifice  forfeited  their 
rank,  and  were  dismissed  the  service.'  But  other  hostile 
demonstrations  soon  followed.  In  the  month  of  February, 
A.D.  303,  the  great  church  of  Nicomedia,  the  city  in  which  the 
Emperor  resided,  was  broken  open  ;  the  copies  of  the  Scriptures 
to  be  found  in  it  were  committed  to  the  flames ;  and  the  edi- 
fice itself  was  demolished.  The  next  day  an  edict  appeared 
interdicting  the  religious  assemblies  of  the  faithful ;  com- 
manding  the  destruction  of  their  places  of  worship ;  ordering 
all  their  sacred  books  to  be  burned  ;  requiring  those  who  held 
ofifices  of  honor  and  emolument  to  renounce  their  principles 
on  pain  of  the  forfeiture  of  their  appointments ;  declaring 
that  disciples  in  the  humbler  walks  of  life,  who  remained 
steadfast,  were  to  be  divested  of  their  rights  as  citizens  and 
freemen  ;  and  enacting  that  even  slaves,  so  long  as  they  con- 
tinued Christians,  were  incapable  of  manumission."  Some 
time  afterward  another  edict  was  promulgated  ordaining  all 
ecclesiastics  to  be  seized  and  put  in  chains.  When  the  jails 
were  thus  filled  with  Christian  ministers,  another  edict  made 
its  appearance,  commanding  that  the  prisoners  should  by  all 
means  be  compelled  to  sacrifice.  At  length  a  fourth  edict,  of 
a  still  more  sweeping  character  and  extending  to  the  whole 
body  of  Christians,  was  published.  In  accordance  with  this 
decree  proclamation  was  made  throughout  the  streets  of  the 
cities ;  and  men,  women,  and  children  were  enjoined  to  repair 

'  "De  Mortibus  Pcrsec."  c.  10. 

'  Euseb.  viii.  2  ;  "  De  Mort.  Pcrsec."  c.  13.   See  also  "  Neander,"  by  Torrey.. 
i.  202,  note. 


DIOCLETIAN   PERSECUTION.  277 

to  the  heathen  temples.  The  city  gates  were  guarded  that 
none  might  escape  ;  and,  from  lists  previously  prepared,  every 
individual  was  summoned  by  name  to  present  himself,  and 
join  in  the  performance  of  the  rites  of  paganism.'  At  a  sub- 
sequent period  all  provisions  sold  in  the  markets,  in  some 
parts  of  the  Empire,  were  sprinkled  with  the  water  or  the  wine 
employed  in  idolatrous  worship,  that  the  Christians  should 
either  be  compelled  to  abstinence,  or  led  to  defile  themselves 
by  the  use  of  polluted  viands." 

Throughout  almost  the  whole  Church  the  latter  part  of  the 
third  century  was  a  period  of  spiritual  decay ;  and  many  re- 
turned to  heathenism  during  the  sifting  time  which  now  fol- 
lowed. Not  a  few  incurred  the  reproach  of  their  more  con- 
sistent and  courageous  brethren  by  surrendering  the  Scriptures 
in  their  possession  ;  and  those  who  thus  purchased  their  safety 
were  stigmatized  with  the  odious  name  of  traditors.  Had  the 
persecutors  succeeded  in  burning  all  the  copies  of  the  Word 
of  God,  they  would,  without  the  intervention  of  a  miracle, 
have  effectually  secured  the  ruin  of  the  Church ;  but  their 
efforts  to  destroy  the  sacred  volume  proved  abortive ;  for  the 
faithful  seized  the  earliest  opportunity  of  replacing  the  con- 
sumed manuscripts.  The  holy  book  was  prized  by  them  more 
highly  than  ever,  and  Bible-burning  only  gave  a  stimulus  to 
Bible-transcription.  Still,  however,  sacred  literature  sustained 
a  loss  of  no  ordinary  magnitude  in  this  wholesale  destruction 
of  the  inspired  writings ;  and  there  is  not  at  present  in  exist- 
ence a  single  codex  of  the  New  Testament  of  higher  antiquity 
than  the  Diocletian  persecution.' 

It  has  been  computed  that  a  greater  number  of  Christians 
perished  under  Decius  than  in  all  the  attacks  which  had  pre- 
viously been  made  upon  them ;  but  their  sufferings  un'der 
Diocletian  were  still  more  formidable  and  disastrous.     Pagan- 

'  Eusebius,  "  Martyrs  of  Palestine,"  c.  4. 

"  Eusebius,  "  Martyrs  of  Palestine,"  c.  9. 

'  The  Vatican  Manuscript,  perhaps  the  oldest  in  existence,  was  probably 
written  shortly  after  this  persecution.  It  possesses  internal  evidences  that 
its  date  is  anterior  to  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century.  See  Home,  iv.  161, 
10th  edition. 


2-]^  DIOCLETIAN    PERSECUTION. 

ism  felt  that  it  was  now  engaged  in  a  death  struggle ;  and  this, 
its  last  effort  to  maintain  its  ascendency,  was  its  most  pro- 
tracted and  desperate  conflict.  It  has  been  frequently  stated 
that  the  Diocletian  persecution  was  of  ten  years'  duration  ; 
and,  reckoning  from  the  first  indications  of  hostility  to  the 
promulgation  of  an  edict  of  toleration,  it  may  certainly  be 
thus  estimated ;  but  all  this  time  the  whole  Church  was  not 
groaning  under  the  pressure  of  the  infliction.  The  Christians 
of  the  west  of  Europe  suffered  comparatively  little ;  as  there 
the  Emperor  Constantius  Chlorus,  and  afterward  his  son  Con- 
stantine,  to  a  great  extent,  preserved  them  from  molestation. 
In  the  East  they  passed  through  terrific  scenes  of  suffering ; 
for  Galerius  and  Maximin,  the  two  stern  tyrants  who  governed 
that  part  of  the  Empire  on  the  abdication  of  Diocletian,  en- 
deavored to  overcome  their  steadfastness  by  all  the  expedients 
which  despotic  cruelty  could  suggest,  A  contemporary,  who 
had  access  to  the  best  sources  of  information,  has  given  a 
faithful  account  of  the  torments  they  endured.  Vinegar 
mixed  with  salt  was  poured  on  the  lacerated  bodies  of  the 
dying;  some  were  roasted  on  huge  gridirons;  some,  suspend- 
ed aloft  by  one  hand,  were  then  left  to  perish  in  excruciating 
agony ;  and  some,  bound  to  parts  of  different  trees  which  had 
been  brought  together  by  machinery,  were  torn  limb  from 
limb  by  the  sudden  revulsion  of  the  liberated  branches.'  But, 
even  in  the  East,  this  attempt  to  overwhelm  Christianity  was 
not  prosecuted  from  its  commencement  to  its  close  with  un- 
abated severity.  Sometimes  the  sufferers  obtained  a  respite  ; 
and  again,  the  work  of  blood  was  resumed  with  fresh  vigor. 
Though  many  were  tempted  for  a  season  to  make  a  hollow 
profession  of  paganism,  multitudes  met  every  effort  to  seduce 
them  in  a  spirit  of  indomitable  resolution.  At  length  tyranny 
became  weary  of  its  barren  office,  and  the  Church  obtained 
peace.  In  A.D.  311,  Galerius,  languishing  under  a  loathsome 
disease,  and  hoping  to  be  relieved  by  the  God  of  the  Chris- 
tians, granted  them  toleration.  Maximin  subsequently  re- 
newed the  attacks  upon  them  ;  but  at  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred in  A.D.  313,  the  edict  in  favor  of  the  Church,  which 
E  usebius,  viii.  6,  9,  10,  12. 


INTERVALS   OF   REPOSE.  279 

Constantine  and  his  colleague,  Licinius,  had  already  published, 
became  law  throughout  the  Empire. 

It  is  often  alleged  that  the  Church,  before  the  conversion  of 
Constantine,  passed  through  ten  persecutions  ; '  but  the  state- 
ment gives  a  very  incorrect  idea  of  its  actual  suffering.  It  is 
more  accurate  to  say  that  for  between  two  and  three  hundred 
years  the  faithful  were  under  the  ban  of  imperial  proscription. 
During  all  this  period  they  were  liable  to  be  pounced  upon  at 
any  moment  by  bigoted,  domineering,  or  greedy  magistrates. 
There  were  not;  indeed,  ten  persecutions  conducted  with  the 
systematic  and  sanguinary  violence  exhibited  in  the  times  of 
Diocletian  or  of  Decius  ;  but  there  were  perhaps  provinces  of 
the  Empire  where  almost  every  year  for  upwards  of  two  cent- 
uries some  Christians  suffered  for  the  faith."  The  friends  of 
the  confessors  and  the  martyrs  were  not  slow  to  acknowledge 
the  hand  of  Providence,  as  they  traced  the  history  of  the  Em- 
perors by  whom  the  Church  was  favored  or  oppressed.  It 
was  remarked  that  the  disciples  were  not  worn  out  by  the 
barbarities  of  a  continuous  line  of  persecutors  ;  for  an  unscru- 
pulous tyrant  was  often  succeeded  on  the  throne  by  an  equita- 
ble or  an  indulgent  sovereign.  Thus  the  Christians  had  every 
now  and  then  a  breathing-time  during  which  their  hopes  were 
revived  and  their  numbers  recruited.  It  was  observed,  too, 
that  the  princes,  of  whose  cruelty  they  had  reason  to  com- 
plain, generally  ended  their  career  under  very  distressing  cir- 
cumstances. An  ecclesiastical  writer  who  flourished  toward 
the  commencement  of  the  fourth  century  has  discussed  this 
subject  in  a  special  treatise,  in  which  he  has  left  behind  him  a 
very  striking  account  of  "  The  Deaths  of  the  Persecutors."  ' 
Their  history  certainly  furnishes  a  most  significant  commenta- 
ry on  the  divine  announcement  that  "  the  Lord  is  known  by 

*  This  idea  is  as  ancient  as  the  clays  of  Augustine.  See  his  "  City  of  God," 
xviii.  52. 

*  Firmilian  refers  to  a  noted  persecution,  which  "  did  not  extend  to  the 
whole  world,  h(f  was /oca/."     Cyprian,  "Epist."  Ixxv.  p.  305. 

'  The  treatise  "  De  Mortibus  Persecutorum  "  is  generally  attributed  to 
Lactantius,  who  flourished  in  the  early  part  of  the  fourth  century.  The  au- 
thorship is  doubtful. 


280  ORIGIN   OF   PERSECUTION. 

the  judgment  which  he  executeth."  '  Nero,  the  first  hostile 
Emperor,  perished  ignominiously  by  his  own  hand.  Domitian, 
the  next  persecutor,  was  assassinated.  Marcus  Aurelius  died 
a  natural  death  ;  but,  during  his  reign,  the  Empire  suffered 
dreadfully  from  pestilence  and  famine  ;  and  .war  raged  almost 
incessantly  from  its  commencement  to  its  close.  The  people 
of  Lyons,  who  signalized  themselves  by  their  cruelty  to  the 
Christians,  did  not  escape  a  righteous  retribution  ;  for  about 
twenty  years  after  the  martyrdom  of  Pothinus  and  his  breth- 
ren, the  city  was  pillaged  and  burned."  Septimius  Severus 
narrowly  escaped  murder  by  the  hand  of  one  of  his  own  chil- 
dren. Decius,  whose  name  is  associated  with  an  age  of  mar- 
tyrdom, perished  in  the  Gothic  war.  Valerian,  another  op- 
pressor, ended  his  days  in  Persia  in  degrading  captivity.  The 
Emperor  Aurelian  was  assassinated.  Diocletian  languished 
for  years  the  victim  of  various  maladies,  and  is  said  to  have 
abruptly  terminated  his  life  by  suicide.  Galerius,  his  son-in- 
law,  died  of  a  most  horrible  distemper ;  and  Maximin  took 
away  his  own  life  by  poison.^  The  interpretation  of  provi- 
dences is  not  to  be  rashly  undertaken  ;  but  the  record  of  the 
fate  of  persecutors  forms  a  most  extraordinary  chapter  in  the 
history  of  man ;  and  the  melancholy  circumstances  under 
which  so  many  of  the  enemies  of  religion  have  finished  their 
career,  have  sometimes  impressed  those  who  have  been  oth- 
erwise slow  to  acknowledge  the  finger  of  the  Almighty. 

The  persecutions  of  the  early  Church  originated  partly  in 
selfishness  and  superstition.  Idolatry  afforded  employment  to 
tens  of  thousands  of  artists  and  artisans,  all  of  whom  had  thus 
a  direct  pecuniary  interest  in  its  conservation  ;  and  the  ignt)rant 
rabble,  taught  to  associate  Christianity  with  misfortune,  were 
prompted  to  clamor  for  its  overthrow.  Mistaken  policy  had  also 
some  share  in  the  sufferings  of  the  Christians  ;  for  statesmen, 
fearing  that  the  disciples  in  their  secret  meetings  were  hatching 

'  Ps.  ix.  1 6, 

*  Herodian,  iii.  23.  This  circumstance,  as  well  as  some  others  here 
stated,  is  not  mentioned  in  the  work  "  De  Mort.  Persec."  Terlullian  men- 
tions some  other  remarkable  facts,  "  Ad  Scapulam,"  c.  3. 

•  "  De  Mortib.  Persec."  c.  49. 


THE   DOCTRINE   OF   TOLERATION.  28 1 

treason,  viewed  them  with  suspicion  and  treated  them  with 
severity.  But  another  element  of  at  least  equal  strength  con- 
tributed to  promote  persecution.  The  pure  and  spiritual  re- 
ligion of  the  NewTestament  was  distasteful  to  the  human 
heart,  and  its  denunciations  of  wickedness  in  every  form  stir- 
red up  the  malignity  of  the  licentious  and  unprincipled.  The 
faithful  complained  that  they  suffered  for  neglecting  the  wor- 
ship of  the  gods,  when  philosophers,  who  derided  the  services 
of  the  established  ritual,  escaped  with  impunity.'  But  the 
sophists  were  not  likely  ever  to  wage  an  effective  warfare 
against  immorality  and  superstition.  Many  of  themselves 
were  persons  of  worthless  character,  and  their  speculations 
were  of  no  practical  value.  It  was  otherwise  with  the  Gos- 
pel. Its  advocates  were  in  earnest  ;  and  it  was  quickly  per- 
ceived that,  if  permitted  to  make  way,  it  would  revolution- 
ize society.  Hence  the  bitter  opposition  which  it  so  soon 
awakened. 

The  sore  oppression  which  the  Church  endured  for  so  many 
generations  might  have  indelibly  imprinted  on  the  hearts  of 
her  children  the  doctrine  of  liberty  of  conscience.  As  the 
early  Christians  expostulated  with  their  pagan  rulers,  they 
often  described  most  eloquently  the  folly  of  persecution. 
"  How  unjust  is  it,"  said  they,  "  that  freemen  should  be  driv- 
en to  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  when  in  all  other  instances  a  will- 
ing mind  is  required  as  an  indispensable  qualification  for  any 
office  of  religion."^  "It  appertains  to  man's  proper  right 
and  natural  privilege  that  each  should  worship  that  which  he 

thinks  to  be  God Neither  is  it  the  part  of  religion  to 

compel  men  to  religion,  which  ought  to  be  adopted  volunta- 
rily, not  of  compulsion,  seeing  that  sacrifices  are  required  of 
a  willing  mind.  Thus,  even  if  you  compel  us  to  sacrifice,  you 
render  no  sacrifice  thereby  to  your  gods,  for  they  desire  not 
sacrifices  from  unwilling  givers,  unless  they  are  contentious  ; 
but  God  is  not  contentious."  ^  When,  however,  the  Church 
obtained  possession  of  the  throne  of  the  Empire,  she  soon  ig- 

»  TertuUian,  "  Apol."  c.  46.  '  Tertullian,  "  Apol."  28, 

8  Tertullian,  "  Ad  Scapulam,"  §  2.     See  also  "  Lactantius,  Instit."  v.  20. 


282  THE   DOCTRINE   OF   TOLERATION. 

nored  these  lessons  of  toleration  ;  and,  snatching  the  weapons 
of  her  tormentors,  she  attempted,  in  her  turn,  to  subjugate 
the  soul  by  the  dungeon,  the  sword,  and  the  faggot.  For  at 
least  thirteen  centuries  after  the  establishment  of  Christianity 
by  Constantine,  it  was  taken  for  granted  almost  everywhere 
that  those  branded  with  the  odious  name  of  heretics  were  un- 
worthy the  protection  of  the  laws  ;  and  that,  though  good  and 
loyal  citizens,  they  ought  to  be  punished  by  the  civil  magis- 
trate. This  doctrine,  so  alien  to  the  spirit  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, has  often  spread  desolation  and  terror  throughout  whole 
provinces  ;  and  has  led  to  the  deliberate  murder  of  a  hundred- 
fold more  Christians  than  were  destroyed  by  pagan  Rome. 
Even  the  fathers  of  the  Reformation  did  not  escape  the  influ- 
ence of  an  intolerant  training ;  but  that  Bible  which  they 
brought  forth  from  obscurity  has  been  gradually  imparting  a 
milder  tone  to  earthly  legislation  ;  and  various  providences 
have  been  illustrating  the  true  meaning  of  the  proposition 
that  Christ's  kingdom  is  "  not  of  this  world."  '  In  all  free 
countries  it  is  now  admitted  that  the  weapons  of  the  Church 
are  not  carnal,  and  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  magistrate  is 
not  spiritual.  "  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience  ";  and  it 
is  only  by  the  illumination  of  His  Word  that  the  monitor 
within  can  be  led  to  recognize  His  will  and  submit  to  His  au- 
thority. 

*  John  xviii.  36. 


CHAPTER   III. 

FALSE   BRETHREN  AND   FALSE   PRINCIPLES   IN  THE   CHURCH. 
SPIRIT  AND   CHARACTER   OF   THE   CHRISTIANS. 

Some  have  an  idea  that  the  saintship  of  the  early  Christians 
was  of  a  type  altogether  unique  and  transcendental.  In  primi- 
tive times  the  Spirit  was  poured  out  in  rich  effusion,  and  the 
subjects  of  His  grace,  when  contrasted  with  the  heathen  around 
them,  often  exhibited  most  attractively  the  beauty  of  holiness; 
but  the  same  Spirit  still  dwells  in  the  hearts  of  the  faithful, 
and  He  is  as  able,  as  He  ever  was,  to  enlighten  and  to  save. 
As  man,  wherever  he  exists,  possesses  substantially  the  same 
organic  conformation,  so  the  true  children  of  God,  to  whatever 
generation  they  belong,  have  the  same  divine  lineaments.  The 
age  of  miracles  has  passed  away,  but  the  reign  of  grace  con- 
tinues;  and,  at  the  present  day,  there  are  among  the  members 
of  the  Church  as  noble  examples  of  vital  godliness  as  in  the 
first  or  second  century. 

There  was  a  traitor  among  the  Twelve,  and  in  the  Apostolic 
Church  there  were  not  a  few  unworthy  members.  ''■Many 
walk,"  says  Paul,  "  of  whom  I  tiave  told  you  often,  and  now 
tell  you,  even  weeping,  that  they  are  the  enemies  of  the  cross 
of  Christ,  whose  end  is  destruction,  whose  god  is  their  belly, 
and  whose  glory  is  in  their  shame,  who  mind  earthly  things."  ' 
In  the  second  and  third  centuries  the  number  of  such  false 
brethren  did  not  diminish.  To  those  ignorant  of  its  saving 
power,  Christianity  commends  itself,  by  its  external  evidences, 
as  a  revelation  from  God ;  and  many,  who  are  not  prepared  to 
submit  to  its  authority,  seek  admission  to  its  privileges.  The 
superficial  character  of  much  of  the  evangelism  current  ap- 

iPhil.  iii.  1 8,  19. 

(283) 


284  COVETOUS   AND   IMMORAL   MINISTERS. 

peared  in  times  of  persecution ;  for,  on  the  first  appearance  of 
danger,  multitudes  abjured  the  Gospel  and  returned  to  the 
heathen  superstitions.  In  the  third  century,  the  more  zealous 
champions  of  the  faith  denounced  the  secularity  of  many  of 
the  ministers  of  the  Church.  Before  the  Decian  persecution, 
not  a  few  of  the  bishops  were  mere  worldlings ;  and  such  was 
their  zeal  for  money-making,  that  they  left  their  parishes  neg- 
lected, and  travelled  to  remote  districts,  where,  at  certain  sea- 
sons of  the  year,  they  carried  on  a  profitable  traffic'  Accord- 
ing to  the  testimony  of  the  most  distinguished  ecclesiastics  of 
the  period,  crimes  were  then  perpetrated  to  which  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  anything  like  parallels  in  the  darkest  pages  of 
the  history  of  modern  Christianity.  The  chief  pastor  of  the 
largest  Church  in  the  Proconsular  Africa  tells,  for  instance,  of 
one  of  his  own  presbyters  who  robbed  orphans  and  defrauded 
widows,  who  permitted  his  father  to  die  of  hunger  and  treated 
his  pregnant  wife  with  horrid  brutality.'  Another  ecclesiastic, 
of  still  higher  position,  speaks  of  three  bishops  in  his  neighbor- 
hood who  engaged,  when  intoxicated,  in  the  solemn  rite  of 
ordination.'  Such  excesses  were  indignantly  condemned  by 
all  right-hearted  disciples,  but  the  fact,  that  those  to  whom 
they  were  imputed  were  not  destitute  of  partisans,  supplies 
clear  yet  melancholy  proof  that  neither  the  Christian  people 
nor  the  Christian  ministry,  even  in  the  third  century,  possessed 
an  unsullied  reputation. 

The  introduction  of  a  false  standard  of  piety  created  much 
mischief.  It  had  long  been  received  as  a  maxim,  among  cer- 
tain classes  of  philosophers,  that  bodily  abstinence  is  necessary 
to  those  who  attain  more  exalted  wisdom ;  and  the  Gentile 
theology,  especially  in  Egypt  and  the  East,  had  endorsed  the 
principle.  It  was  not  without  advocates  among  the  Jews,  a.s 
is  apparent  from  the  discipline  of  the  Essenes  and  the  Thera- 
peutae.  At  an  early  period  its  influence  was  felt  within  the 
pale  of  the  Church,  and  before  the  termination  of  the  second 

'  Cyprian,  "  De  Lapsis,"  p.  374. 

"  Cyprian,  "  Ad  Cornelium,"  epist.  xlix.,  p.  143.    Cyprian  also  charges  one 
of  his  deacons  with  fraud,  extortion,  and  adultery.     Epist.  xxxviii.,  p.  116. 
*  Cornelius  of  Rome  in  Euseb.  vi.  43. 


THE   ASCETICS.  285 

century,  individual  members  here  and  there  eschewed  certain 
kinds  of  food  and  abstained  from  marriage.'  The  pagan  liter- 
ati, who  now  joined  the  disciples  in  considerable  numbers,  did 
much  to  promote  the  credit  of  this  adulterated  Christianity. 
Its  votaries,  designated  ascestics  and  philosophers^  did  not  with- 
draw themselves  from  the  world  ;  but,  whilst  adhering  to  their 
own  regimen,  still  remained  mindful  of  their  social  obligations. 
Their  self-imposed  mortification  soon  found  admirers,  and  an 
opinion  gradually  gained  ground  that  these  abstinent  disciples 
cultivated  a  higher  form  of  piety.  The  adherents  of  the  new 
discipline  silently  increased,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  third 
century,  a  class  of  females  who  led  a  single  life,  and  who,  by 
way  of  distinction,  were  called  virgins,  were  in  some  places  re- 
garded by  the  other  Church  members  with  special  veneration.' 
Among  the  clergy  also  celibacy  was  considered  a  mark  of 
superior  holiness."  But,  in  various  places,  pietism  at  this  time 
assumed  a  form  which  disgusted  all  persons  of  sober  judgment 
and  ordinary  discretion.  The  unmarried  clergy  and  the  virgins 
cultivated  the  communion  of  saints  after  a  new  fashion,  alleg- 
ing that,  in  each  other's  society,  they  enjoyed  peculiar  advan- 
tages for  spiritual  improvement.  It  was  not  uncommon  to  find 
a  single  ecclesiastic  and  one  of  the  sisterhood  of  virgins  dwell- 
ing in  the  same  house  and  sharing  the  same  bed!"  All  the 
while  the  parties  repudiated  the  imputation  of  any  improper 
intercourse,  but  in  some  cases  the  proofs  of  guilt  were  too 
plain  to  be  concealed,  and  common  sense  refused  to  credit  the 

'  See  Eusebius,  v.  3,  vi.  9. 

^  See  Neander's  "  Antignostikus,"  part  ii.,  sect,  ii.,  at  the  end.  The  Chris- 
tian ascetics  adopted  the  dress  of  the  pagan  philosophers. 

'Cyprian,  "  De  Habitu  Virginum,"  pp.  354,  361. 

*  Still,  in  the  time  of  Origen,  the  sons  of  bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacons 
valued  themselves  on  their  parentage. — Origen  in  "  Matthaeum,'*  xv.  opera, 
torn,  iii.,  p.  690.  Even  Cyprian  bears  honorable  testimony  to  certain  married 
presbyters.  See  "  Epist."  xxxv.,  p.  iii.  See  also  "  Epist."  xviii.  p.  67. 
Cyprian  himself  was  indebted  for  his  conversion  to  an  eminent  presbyter, 
named  Cascilius,  who  had  a  wife  and  children.  "  Life  of  Cyprian,"  by  Ponti- 
us the  Deacon,  §  5.     See  also  Euseb.  vi.  42. 

° Cyprian,  "Epist."  Ixii.,  p.  219.  Concerning  the  Subintroducta,  see  also 
the  letter  relating  to  Paul  of  Samosata  in  Euseb.  vii.  30. 


286  RISE   OF   MONACHISM. 

pretensions  of  such  an  absurd  and  suspicious  spiritualism.  The 
ecclesiastical  authorities  felt  it  necessary  to  interfere,  and  com- 
pel the  professed  virgins  and  the  single  clergy  to  abstain  from 
a  degree  of  intimacy  which  was  unquestionably  not  free  from 
the  appearance  of  evil. 

At  the  time  that  the  advocates  of  "  whatsoever  things  are 
of  good  report "  were  protesting  against  the  improprieties  of 
these  spiritual  brethren  and  sisters,  Paul  and  Antony,  the 
fathers  and  founders  of  Monachism,  commenced  to  live  as 
hermits.  Paul  was  a  native  of  Egypt,  and  the  heir  of  a  con- 
siderable fortune  ;  but,  driven  at  first  by  persecution  from  the 
abodes  of  men,  he  ultimately  adopted  the  desert  as  the  place 
of  his  residence.  Antony,  in  another  part  of  the  same  coun- 
try, guided  by  a  mistaken  spirit  of  self-renunciation,  divested 
himself  of  all  his  property,  and  also  retired  into  a  wilderness. 
The  biographies  of  the  two  well-meaning  but  weak-minded 
visionaries,  written  by  two  of  the  most  eminent  divines  of  the 
fourth  century,'  are  very  humiliating  memorials  of  folly  and 
fanaticism.  These  solitaries  spent  each  a  long  life  in  a  cave, 
macerating  the  body  with  fasting,  and  occupying  the  mind 
with  the  reveries  of  a  morbid  imagination.  In  an  age  of  grow- 
ing superstition  their  dreamy  pietism  was  mistaken  by  many 
for  sanctity  of  uncommon  excellence;  and  the  admiration  be- 
stowed on  them,  tempted  others,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fol- 
lowing century,  to  imitate  their  example.  Soon  afterward, 
societies  of  these  sons  of  the  desert  were  established  ;  and,  in 
the  course  of  a  few  years,  a  taste  for  the  monastic  life  spread, 
like  wild-fire,  over  the  whole  Church. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  figure  of  the  instrument  of  tort- 
ure on  which  our  Lord  was  put  to  death,  occupied  a  prominent 
place  among  the  symbols  of  the  ancient  heathen  worship. 
From  the  most  remote  antiquity  the  cross  was  venerated  in 
Egypt  and  Syria  ;  it  was  held  in  equal  honor  by  the  Buddhists 
of  the  East;'  and,  what  is  still  more  extraordinary,  when  the 

'  Jerome  and  Athanasius. 

'  See  Medhurst's  "  China,"  p.  217.  The  symbol  of  the  cross  was  engraved 
on  the  walls  of  the  temple  of  Serapis.  "When  the  temple  of  Serapis  was 
torn  down  and  laid  bare,"  says  Socrates,  "there  were  found  in  it,  engraven 


SIGN   OF  THE   CROSS.  28/ 

Spaniards  first  visited  America,  the  well-known  sign  was  found 
among  the  objects  of  worship  in  the  idol  temples  of  Anahuac' 
About  the  commencement  of  our  era,  the  pagans  were  wont 
to  make  the  sign  of  a  cross  on  the  forehead  in  the  celebration 
of  some  of  their  sacred  mysteries."  A  satisfactory  explana- 
tion of  the  origin  of  such  peculiarities  in  the  ritual  of  idolatry 
can  scarcely  be  expected  ;  but  it  certainly  need  not  excite  sur- 
prise if  the  early  Christians  were  impressed  by  them,  and  if 
they  viewed  them  as  so  many  unintentional  testimonies  to  the 
truth  of  their  religion.  The  disciples  displayed,  indeed,  no 
little  ingenuity  in  their  attempts  to  discover  the  figure  of  a 
cross  in  almost  every  object  around  them.  They  recognized 
it  in  the  trees  and  the  flowers,  in  the  fishes  and  the  fowls,  in 
the  sails  of  a  ship  and  the  structure  of  the  human  body ; '  and 

on  stones,  certain  characters,  which  they  call  hieroglyphics,  having  the 
forms  of  crosses.  Both  the  Christians  and  Pagans  on  seeing  them,  thought 
they  had  refer e7ice  to  their  respective  religions."     "  Ecc.  Hist."  v.  17. 

'  Prescott,  "  Conquest  of  Mexico,"  iii.  338-340.  See  also  note,  p.  340. 
Sir  Robert  Ker  Porter  mentions  a  block  of  stone  found  among  the  ruins  of 
Susa,  having,  on  one  side,  inscriptions  in  the  cuneiform  character  ;  and,  on 
another,  hieroglyphical  figures  with  a  cross  in  the  corner.  See  his  "  Travels," 
vol.  ii.,  p.  415.  Among  the  ancient  pagans,  the  cross  was  the  symbol  of 
eternal  life,  or  divinity.  On  medals  and  monuments  of  a  date  far  anterior 
to  Christianity,  it  is  found  in  the  hands  of  statues  of  victory  and  of  figures 
of  monarchs.     See  also  Tertullian,  "Apol."  c.  16. 

'  Tertullian,  "  De  Prcescrip.  Haeret."  c.  40.  See  also  Kaye's  Tertullian, 
p.  441.  "The  ancient  world  was  possessed  by  a  dread  of  demons,  and 
under  an  anxious  apprehension  of  the  influence  of  charms,  sought  for  ex- 
ternal preservatives  against  the  powers  of  evil,  and  accompanied  their 
prayers  with  external  signs  and  gestures."   Bunsen's  "  Hippolytus,"  iii.  351. 

^  See  Justin  Martyr,  "Dialogue  with  Trypho,"  pp.  259,  318,  and  "Apol." 
ii.,  p.  90.  Tertullian,  "Adv.  Judeeos,"  c.  10.  In  the  "Octavius"  of  Min- 
ucius  Felix  the  following  remarkable  passage  occurs  :  "  What  are  your 
military  ensigns,  and  banners,  and  standards,  but  crosses  gilded  and  orna- 
mented ?  Yoier  trophies  of  victory  not  only  imitate  the  appearance  of  a 
cross,  but  also  of  a  man  fixed  to  it.  We  discern  the  sign  of  a  cross  in  the 
very  form  of  a  ship,  whether  it  is  wafted  along  with  swelling  sails,  or  glides 
with  its  oars  extended.  When  a  military  yoke  is  erected  there  is  a  sign  of 
a  cross,  and,  in  like  manner,  when  one  with  hands  stretched  forth  devoutly 
addresses  his  God.  Thus,  there  seems  to  be  some  reason  in  nature  for  it, 
and  some  reference  to  it  in  your  own  system  of  religion."     The  monogram 


288  SIGN   OF  THE   CROSS. 

if  they  borrowed  from  their  heathen  neighbors  the  custom  of 
making  a  cross  on  the  forehead,  they  were  of  course  ready  to 
maintain  that  they  thus  only  redeemed  the  holy  sign  from 
profanation.  Some  of  them  were  perhaps  prepared,  on  pru- 
dential grounds,  to  plead  for  its  introduction.  Heathenism 
was  a  religion  of  bowings  and  genuflections  ;  its  votaries  were, 
ever  and  anon,  attending  to  some  little  rite  or  form ;  and,  be- 
cause of  the  multitude  of  these  diminutive  acts  of  outward 
devotion,  its  ceremonial  was  at  once  frivolous  and  burdensome. 
When  the  pagan  passed  into  the  Church,  he  often  felt,  for  a 
time,  the  awkwardness  of  the  change ;  and  was  frequently  on 
the  point  of  repeating,  automatically,  the  gestures  of  his  old 
superstition.  It  was,  therefore,  deemed  expedient  to  super- 
sede more  objectional  forms  by  something  of  a  Christian  com- 
plexion ;  and  the  use  of  the  sign  of  the  cross  presented  itself 
as  an  observance  equally  familiar  and  convenient.'  But  the 
disciples  would  have  acted  more  wisely  had  they  boldly  dis- 
carded all  the  puerilities  of  paganism ;  for  credulity  soon  be- 
gan to  ascribe  supernatural  virtue  to  this  vestige  of  the  repu- 
diated worship.  As  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  third  century, 
it  was  believed  to  operate  like  a  charm ;  and  it  was  accord- 
ingly employed  on  almost  all  occasions  by  many  of  the  Chris- 
tians. "  In  all  our  travels  and  movements,"  says  a  writer  of 
this  period,  "  as  often  as  we  come  in  or  go  out,  when  we  put' 
on  our  clothes  or  our  shoes,  when  we  enter  the  bath  or  sit 
down  at  table,  when  we  light  our  candles,  when  we  go  to  bed, 
or  recline  upon  a  couch,  or  whatever  may  be  our  employment, 
we  mark  our  forehead  with  the  sign  of  the  cross."' 

X,  composed  of  the  initial  Greeic  capitals  X  and  P  of  the  name  atP'*^™? ,  was 
in  use  among  the  heathen  long  before  our  era.  It  is  to  be  found  on  coins 
of  the  Ptolemies.     Aringhi,  "  Roma  Subterranea,"  ii.,  p.  567. 

'  Tertullian  maintains  ("Ad  Jud."  c.  xi.)  that  the  marl'  mentioned  Ezek. 
ix.  4  was  the  letter  T,  or  the  sign  of  the  cross.  See  a  Dissertation  on  this 
subject  by  Vitringa,  "  Observationes  Sacrae,"  Hb.  ii.,  c.  15.  See  also  Origen, 
"  In  Ezechielem,"  Opera,  tom.  iii.,  p.  424,  and  Cyprian  to  Demetrianus,  §  12. 
It  would  appear  that  the  worshippers  of  Apollo  used  to  mark  themselves 
on  the  forehead  with  the  letters  XH.  See  Kitto's  "  Cyclopc-edia  ol  Bib.  Lit." 
art.  Forehead. 

'  Tertullian,  "  De  Corona,"  c.  3.  By  the  Romans,  crosses  were  erected 
in  conspicuous  places  to  intimidate  offenders,  just  in  the  same  way  as  the 


IMAGES.  289 

But  whilst  not  a  few  of  the  Christians  were  beginning  to 
adopt  some  of  the  trivial  rites  of  paganism,  they  continued 
firmly  to  protest  against  its  more  flagrant  corruptions. 
They  assailed  its  gross  idolatry  with  bold  and  biting  sar- 
casms. "  Stone,  or  wood,  or  silver,"  said  they,  "  becomes 
a  god  when  man  chooses  that  it  should,  and  dedicates  it 
to  that  end.  With  how  much  more  truth  do  dumb  ani- 
mals, such  as  mice,  swallows,  and  kites,  judge  of  your  gods  ? 
They  know  that  your  gods  feel  nothing;  they  gnaw  them, 
they  trample  and  sit  on  them  ;  and  if  you  did  not  drive  them 
away,  they  would  make  their  nests  in  the  very  mouth  of  your 
deity."  '  The  Church  of  the  first  three  centuries  rejected  the 
use  of  images  in  worship,  and  no  pictorial  representations  of 
the  Saviour  were  to  be  found  even  in  the  dwellings  of  the 
Christians.  They  conceived  that  such  visible  memorials  con- 
vey no  idea  whatever  of  the  ineffable  glory  of  the  Son  of  God  ; 
and  they  held  that  it  is  the  duty  of  His  servants  to  foster  a 
spirit  of  devotion,  not  by  the  contemplation  of  His  material 
form,  but  by  meditating  on  His  holy  and  divine  attributes  as 
they  are  exhibited  in  creation,  providence,  and  redemption. 
So  anxious  were  they  to  avoid  even  the  appearance  of  any- 
thing like  image -worship,  that  when  they  wished  to  mark  ar- 
ticles of  dress  or  furniture  with  an  index  of  their  religious  pro- 
fession, they  employed  the  likeness  of  an  anchor,  or  a  dove, 
or  a  lamb,  or  a  cross,  or  some  other  object  of  an  emblematical 
character,^  "  We  must  not,"  said  they,  "  cling  to  the  sensuous, 
but  rise  to  the  spiritual.  The  familiarity  of  daily  sight  lowers 
the  dignity  of  the  divine,  and  to  pretend  to  worship  a  spiritual 
essence  through  earthly  matter,  is  to  degrade  that  essence  to 

drop  is  now  exhibited  in  the  front  of  a  jail.  It  is  not  improbable  that  some 
of  these  crosses  were  afterward  worshipped  by  the  Christians !  Aringhi 
mentions  a  stone,  to  be  seen  in  his  own  time  in  the  Vatican,  which  was 
treated  with  the  same  absurd  reverence.  On  this  stone  many  of  the  early 
Christians  were  said  to  have  suffered  martyrdom,  probably  by  decapitation  ; 
but  it  was  afterward  held  "  in  very  great  honor  "  at  Rome,  and  regarded 
as  "  a  sacred  thing  !  "     "  Roma  Subterranea,"  i.  219. 

'  Minucius  Felix,  "  Octavius,"  c.  24.  There  is  a  similar  passage  in  Ter- 
tullian,  "  Apol."  c.  12. 

°  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  "  Paedagog."  iii..  Opera,  pp.  246,  247. 
19 


290  CONDEMNATION   OF  IMAGE-WORSHIP. 

the  world  of  sense." '  Even  so  late  as  the  beginning  of  the 
fourth  century  the  practice  of  displaying  paintings  in  places  of 
worship  was  prohibited  by  ecclesiastical  authority.  A  canon 
which  bears  on  this  subject,  and  which  was  enacted  by  the 
Council  of  Elvira,  held  about  A.D.  305,  is  more  creditable  to 
the  pious  zeal  than  to  the  literary  ability  of  the  assembled 
fathers.  "  We  must  not,"  said  they,  "  have  pictures  in  the 
church,  lest  that  which  is  worshipped  and  adored  be  painted 
on  the  walls."  * 

It  has  been  objected  to  the  Great  Reformation  of  the  six- 
teenth century  that  it  exercised  a  prejudicial  influence  on  the 
arts  of  painting  and  statuary.  The  same  argument  was  urged 
against  the  Gospel  itself  in  the  days  of  its  original  promulga- 
tion. Whilst  the  early  Church  entirely  discarded  the  use  of 
images  in  worship,  its  more  zealous  members  looked  with  sus- 
picion upon  all  who  assisted  in  the  fabrication  of  these  objects 
of  the  heathen  idolatry.'  The  excuse  that  the  artists  were 
laboring  for  subsistence,  and  that  they  had  themselves  no  idea 
of  bowing  down  to  the  works  of  their  own  hands,  did  not 
satisfy  the  scruples  of  their  more  conscientious  brethren. 
"  Assuredly,"  they  exclaimed,  "  you  are  a  worshipper  of  idols 
when  you  help  to  promote  their  worship.  It  is  true  you  bring 
to  them  no  outward  victim,  but  you  sacrifice  to  them  your 
mind.  Your  sweat  is  their  drink-offering.  You  kindle  for 
them  the  light  of  your  skill."  ' 

By  denouncing  image-worship,  the  early  Church  to  some 
extent  interfered  with  the  profits  of  the  painter  and  the 
sculptor ;  but,  in  another  way,  it  did  much  to  purify  and  ele- 

'  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  "Stromal."  v.,  Opera,  p.  559. 

'  Canon  36.  The  comment  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Dupin  upon  this 
canon  is  worthy  of  note.  "  To  me,"  says  he,  "  it  seems  better  to  under- 
stand it  in  the  plainest  sense,  and  to  confess  that  the  Fathers  of  this  Coun- 
cil did  not  approve  the  use  of  images,  no  more  than  that  of  wax  candles 
lighted  in  full  daylight." — History  of  Ecclesiastical  Writers,  Fourth  Cent- 
ury. 

^  Tcrtullian,  "  De  Pudicitia,"  c.  7.  But  all  were  not  so  scrupulous,  for 
Tertuilian  elsewhere  complains  that  the  image-makers  were  chosen  to 
church  offices.     "  De  Idololatria,"  c.  7. 

*  Tertuilian,  "  De  Idololatria,"  c.  6. 


THE  THEATRE  AND  THE  GLADIATORIAL  SHOWS.        29I 

vate  the  taste  of  the  public.  In  the  second  and  third  centu- 
ries the  playhouse  in  every  large  town  was  a  centre  of  attrac- 
tion ;  and  whilst  the  actors  were  generally  persons  of  very 
loose  morals,  their  dramatic  performances  were  perpetually 
pandering  to  the  depraved  appetites  of  the  age.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  wonderful  that  all  true  Christians  viewed  the  theatre 
with  disgust.  Its  frivolity  was  offensive  to  their  grave  tem- 
perament ;  they  recoiled  from  its  obscenity ;  and  its  constant 
appeals  to  the  gods  and  goddesses  of  heathenism  outraged 
their  religious  convictions.'  In  their  estimation,  the  talent 
devoted  to  its  maintenance  was  miserably  prostituted ;  and 
whilst  every  actor  was  deemed  unworthy  of  ecclesiastical  fel- 
lowship, every  church  member  was  prohibited,  by  attendance 
or  otherwise,  from  giving  any  encouragement  to  the  stage. 
The  early  Christians  were  also  forbidden  to  frequent  the  pub- 
lic shows,  as  they  were  considered  scenes  of  temptation  and 
pollution.  Every  one  at  his  baptism  was  required  to  renounce 
"  the  devil,  his  pomp,  and  his  angels," ' — a  declaration  which 
implied  that  he  was  henceforth  to  absent  himself  from  the 
heathen  spectacles.  At  this  time,  statesmen,  poets,  and  phi- 
losophers were  not  ashamed  to  appear  among  the  crowds  who 
assembled  to  witness  the  combats  of  the  gladiators,  though, 
on  such  occasions,  human  life  was  recklessly  sacrificed.  But 
here  the  Church,  composed  cliiefly  of  the  poor  of  this  world, 
was  continually  giving  lessons  in  humanity  to  heathen  legisla- 
tors and  literati.  It  protested  against  cruelty,  as  well  to  the 
brute  creation  as  to  man ;  and  condemned  the  taste  which  de- 
rived gratification  from  the  shedding  of  the  blood  either  of 
lions  or  of  gladiators.  All  who  sanctioned  by  their  presence 
the  sanguinary  sports  of  the  amphitheatre,  incurred  a  sentence 
of  excommunication.^ 

Though  an  increasing  taste  for  inactivity  and  solitude  be- 

'  Cyprian,  "  Ad  Donatum,  "  Opera,  p.  5. 

'  Tertullian,  "De  Spectaculis,"  c.  4.  According  to  the  English  Liturgy 
the  person  baptized  "  renounces  the  devil  and  all  his  works,  the  vain  pomp 
and  glory  of  the  world."  This  was  originally  intended  to  apply  to  such  ex- 
hibitions as  those  mentioned  in  the  text. 

'  Tertullian,  "  De  Pudicitia,"  c.  7.     Theophilus  to  Autolycus,  book  iii. 


292  POLYGAMY. 

tokened  the  growth  of  a  bastard  Christianity,  and  though 
various  other  circumstances  were  indicative  of  tendencies  to 
adulterate  religion,  either  by  reducing  it  to  a  system  of  formal- 
ism, or  by  sublimating  it  into  a  life  of  empty  contemplation, 
there  were  still  proofs  of  the  existence  of  a  large  amount  of 
healthy  and  vigorous  piety.  The  members  of  the  Church,  as  a 
body,  were  distinguished  by  their  exemplary  morals ;  and 
about  the  beginning  of  the  third  century,  one  of  their  advo- 
cates, when  pleading  for  their  toleration,  could  venture  to  as- 
sert that,  among  the  numberless  culprits  brought  under  the 
notice  of  the  magistrates,  none  were  Christians.'  Wherever 
the  Gospel  spread,  its  social  influence  was  most  salutary.  Its 
first  teachers  applied  themselves  discreetly  to  the  redress  of 
prevalent  abuses;  and  time  gradually  demonstrated  the  ef- 
fectiveness of  their  plans  of  reformation.  When  they  appeared, 
polygamy  was  common  ;"  and  had  they  assailed  it  in  terms  of 
unmeasured  severity,  they  might  have  defeated  their  own  ob- 
ject by  rousing  up  a  most  formidable  and  exasperated  oppo- 
sition. It  would  have  been  argued  by  the  Jews  that  they  were 
reflecting  on  the  patriarchs ;  and  it  would  have  been  said 
by  the  Roman  governors  that  they  were  interfering  with  mat- 
ters which  belonged  to  the  province  of  the  civil  magistrate. 
They  were  obliged,  therefore,  to  proceed  with  extreme  cau- 
tion. In  the  first  place,  they  laid  it  down  as  a  principle  that 
every  bishop  and  deacon  must  be  "  the  husband  of  one  wife,"  ' 
or,  in  other  words,  that  no  polygamist  could  hold  ofiice  in 
their  society.  They  thus,  in  the  most  pointed  way,  inculcated 
sound  views  respecting  the  institution  of  marriage  ;  for  they 
intimated  that  whoever  was  the  husband  of  more  than  one 
wife  was  not,  in  every  respect,  "  a  pattern  of  good  works,"  and 
was  consequently  unfit  for  ecclesiastical  promotion.     In   the 

'  Tertullian,  "  Apol."  c.  44.  Minucius  Felix,  in  his  "  Octavius,"  makes  a 
similar  statement :  "  The  prisons  are  crowded  with  criminals  of  your  re- 
ligion, but  no  Christian  is  there,  unless  he  is  either  accused  on  account  of 
his  faith,  or  is  a  deserter  from  his  faith." 

'  Justin  Martyr,  in  his  dialogue  with  Trj'pho  the  Jew,  says  to  him,  "  Your 
blind  and  foolish  teachers  even  to  this  day  permit  every  one  of  you  to  have 
four  or  five  wives." — Opera,  p.  363. 

'  I  Tim  iii.  2,  12. 


INTERMARRIAGE   WITH   HEATHENS.  293 

second  place,  in  all  their  discourses  they  proceeded  on  the  as- 
sumption that  the  union  of  one  man  and  one  woman  is  the 
divine  arrangement.'  Throughout  the  whole  of  the  New 
Testament,  wherever  marriage  is  mentioned,  no  other  idea  is 
entertained.  It  is  easy  to  anticipate  the  effect  of  this  method 
of  procedure.  It  soon  came  to  be  understood  that  no  good 
Christian  had  at  one  time  more  than  one  wife  ;  and  at  length 
the  polygamist  was  excluded  from  communion  by  a  positive 
enactment.'' 

Every  disciple  who  married  a  heathen  was  cut  off  from 
Church  privileges.  The  apostles  had  condemned  such  an 
alliance,"  and  it  still  continued  to  be  spoken  of  in  terms  of  the 
strongest  reprobation.  Nothing,  it  was  said,  but  discomfort 
and  danger  could  be  anticipated  from  the  union  ;  as  parties 
related  so  closely,  and  yet  differing  so  widely  on  the  all-im- 
portant subject  of  religion,  could  not  permanently  hold  cordial 
intercourse.  A  writer  of  this  period  has  given  a  vivid  de- 
scription of  the  trials  of  the  female  who  made  such  an  ill- 
assorted  match.  When  she  is  about  to  be  engaged  in  spiritual 
exercises,  her  husband  will  contrive  some  scheme  for  her  an- 
noyance ;  as  her  zeal  will  awaken  his  jealousy,  and  provoke 
his  opposition.  "  If  there  be  a  prayer-meeting,  the  husband 
will  devote  this  day  to  the  use  of  the  bath  ;  if  a  fast  is  to  be 
observed,  the  husband  has  a  feast  at  which  he  entertains  his 
friends  ;  if  a  religious  ceremony  is  to  be  attended,  never  does 
household  business  fall  more  upon  her  hands.  And  who 
would  allow  his  wife,  for  the  sake  of  visiting  the  brethren,  to 
go  from  street  to  street  the  round  of  strange  and  especially  of 
the  poorer  class  of  cottages  ?  ....  If  a  stranger  brother  come 
to  her,  what  lodging  in  an  alien's  house  ?  If  a  present  is  to 
be  made  to  any,  the  barn,  the  storehouse,  are  closed  against 
her,"* 

The  primitive  heralds  of  the  Gospel  acted  with  remarkable 

'  Rom.  vii.  1-3;  i  Cor.  vii.  2. 

■^  The  Montanists,  in  their  extravagance,  insisted  that  any  one  who  con- 
tracted a  second  marriage  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife  should  be  excom- 
municated. 

»  2  Cor.  vi.  14.  *  Tertullian,  "  Ad  Uxorem,"  ii.  4. 


294  SLAVERY. 

prudence  in  reference  to  the  question  of  slavery.  According 
to  some  high  authorities,  bondsmen  constituted  one-half '  of 
the  entire  population  of  the  Roman  Empire  ;  and  as  the  new- 
religion  was  designed  to  promote  the  spiritual  good  of  man, 
rather  than  the  improvement  of  his  civil  or  political  condition, 
the  apostles  did  not  deem  it  expedient,  in  the  first  instance,  to 
attempt  to  break  up  established  relations.  They  did  not  re- 
fuse to  receive  any  one  as  a  member  of  the  Church  because  he 
was  a  slave-owner ;  neither  did  they  reject  any  applicant  for 
admission  because  he  was  a  slave.  The  social  position  of  the 
individual  did  not  at  all  afTect  his  ecclesiastical  standing ;  for 
bond  and  free  are  "  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus." '  In  the  Church 
the  master  and  the  servant  were  on  a  footing  of  equality  ;  they 
joined  in  the  same  prayers  ;  they  sat  down,  side  by  side,  at 
the  same  communion-table ;  and  they  saluted  each  other  with 
the  kiss  of  Christian  recognition.  A  slave-owner  might  belong 
to  a  congregation  of  which  his  slave  was  the  teacher ;  and  thus, 
whilst  in  the  household,  the  servant  was  bound  to  obey  his 
master  according  to  the  flesh,  in  the  Church  the  master  was 
required  to  remember  that  his  minister  was  "  worthy  of  double 
honor." ' 

The  spirit  of  the  Gospel  is  pre-eminently  a  spirit  of  free- 
dom ;  but  the  inspired  founders  of  our  religion  did  not  fail  to 
remember  that  we  may  be  partakers  of  the  glorious  liberty  of 
the  children  of  God,  when  we  are  under  the  yoke  of  temporal 
bondage.  Whilst,  therefore,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  speak  of 
emancipation  as  a  blessing,  and  whilst  they  said  to  the  slave, 
"  If  thou  mayest  be  made  free,  use  it  rather";*  they  at  the  same 
time  declared  it  to  be  his  duty  to  submit  cheerfully  to  the 
restraints  of  his  present  condition.     "  Let  every  man,"  said 

'  Gibbon,  "  Decline  and  Fall,"  chap.  ii.  Some  writers,  such  as  Zumpt 
and  Merivale,  consider  this  estimate  quite  extravagant.  Others  again  think 
it  quite  loo  low.  See  Schaffs  "  History  of  the  Christian  Church,"  p.  316, 
New  York,  1859  ;  and  Hallam's  "  Middle  Ages,"  i.  145,  Edit.  1841. 

'  Gal.  iii.  28. 

'  Onesimus.  the  slave  mentioned  Philem.  10,  16,  became  a  Christian 
minister. 

•  I  Cor.  vii.  21. 


SLAVERY.  295 

they,  "  abide  in  the  same  calling  wherein  he  was  called  ;  for 
he  that  is  called  in  the  Lord,  being  a  bond-servant,  is  the 
Lord's  freeman."  '  They  were  most  careful  to  teach  converted 
slaves  not  to  presume  on  their  church  membership  ;  and  not 
to  be  less  respectful  and  obedient  when  those  to  whom  they 
were  in  bondage  were  their  brethren  in  the  Lord.  "  Let  as 
many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke,"  says  the  apostle,  "  count 
their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name  of  God 
and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed.  And  they  that  have 
believing  masters,  let  them  not  despise  them,  because  they  are 
brethren,  but  rather  do  them  service,  because  they  are  faithful 
and  beloved,  partakers  of  the  benefit." ' 

The  influence  of  Christianity  on  the  condition  of  the  slave 
was  soon  felt.  The  believing  master  was  more  humane  than 
his  pagan  neighbor ;  ^  his  bearing  was  more  gentle,  conciliatory, 
and  considerate  ;  and  the  domestics  under  his  care  were  more 
comfortable.*  There  was  a  disposition  among  slave-owners  to 
let  the  oppressed  go  free ;  and  when  they  performed  such  an 
act  of  mercy,  and  both  parties  were  in  communion  with  the 
Church,  the  congregation  was  assembled  to  witness  the  con- 
summation of  the  happy  deliverance."  Thus,  multitudes  of 
bondsmen  in  all  parts  of  the  Roman  Empire  were  soon  taught 
to  regard  the  Gospel  as  their  best  benefactor. 

Whilst  Christianity,  in  the  spirit  of  its  Great  Founder,  was 
laboring  to  improve  the  tone  of  public  sentiment,  and  to  undo 
heavy  burdens,  it  exhibited  other  most  attractive  characteris- 
tics. Wherever  a  disciple  travelled,  if  a  church  existed  in  the 
district,  he  felt  himself  at  home.  The  ecclesiastical  certificate 
which  he  carried  along  with  him,  at  once  introduced  him  to 
the  meetings  of  his  co-religionists,  and  secured  for  him  all  the 

'  I  Cor.  vii.  20-22.  '  I  Tim.  vi.  i,  2. 

=  Kindness  to  slaves  was  particularly  enjoined  by  the  early  Church  teach- 
ers.    See  Cyprian,  "  Lib.  Tres.  Test.  adv.  Judceos,"  lib.  iii.,  §§  72,  73. 

"  It  is  stated  in  the  "  Octavius  "  of  Minucius  Felix  that^  jn  the  estimation 
of  the  heathen,  "  for  a  slave  to  be  partaker  in  certain  religious  ceremonies 
is  deemed  abominable  impiety"  (c.  35). 

*  One  of  the  laws  made  by  Constantine  shortly  after  his  conversion  sanc- 
tioned the  manumission  of  slaves  on  the  Lord's  day. 


296  CHRISTIAN  FELLOWSHIP. 

advantage  of  membership.'  The  heathen  were  astonished  at 
the  cordiaHty  with  which  the  believers  among  whom  they  re- 
sided greeted  a  Christian  stranger.  He  was  saluted  with  the 
kiss  of  peace  ;  ushered  into  their  assembly ;  and  invited  to 
share  the  hospitality  of  the  domestic  board.  If  he  was  sick, 
they  visited  him  ;  if  he  was  in  want,  they  made  provision  for 
his  necessities.  The  poor  widows  were  supported  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  Church  ;  and  for  any  of  the  brethren  carried  cap- 
tive by  predatory  bands  of  the  barbarians  who  hovered  upon 
the  borders  of  the  Empire,  contributions  were  made  to  pur- 
chase their  liberation.''  To  those  without  the  Church,  its 
members  appeared  as  one  large  and  affectionate  family.  The 
pagan  could  not  comprehend  what  it  was  that  so  closely 
cemented  their  brotherhood  ;  for  he  did  not  understand  how 
they  could  be  attracted  to  each  other  by  love  to  a  common 
Saviour.  He  was  induced  to  believe  that  they  held  intercourse 
by  certain  mysterious  signs,  and  that  they  were  afifiliated  by 
something  like  the  bond  of  freemasonry.  Even  statesmen 
observed  with  uneasiness  the  spirit  of  fraternity  which  reigned 
among  the  Christians  ;  and,  though  the  disciples  never  were 
convicted  of  any  political  designs,  suspicions  were  often  enter- 
tained that,  after  all,  they  formed  a  secret  association,  on  an 
extensive  scale,  which  would  one  day  prove  dangerous  to  the 
established  government. 

But  Christianity,  like  the  sun,  shines  on  the  evil  and  the 
good ;  and  opportunities  occurred  for  showing  that  its  chari- 
ties were  not  confined  within  the  limits  of  its  own  denomina- 
tion. There  were  occasions  on  which. its  very  enemies  could 
not  well  refuse  to  admit  its  excellence  ;  for  in  seasons  of  pub- 
lic distress,  its  adherents  often  signalized  themselves  as  by  far 
the  most  energetic,  benevolent,  and  useful  citizens.  At  such 
times  its  genial  philanthropy  appeared  to  singular  advantage 
when  contrasted  with  the  cold  and  selfish  spirit  of  polytheism. 

'  Tertullian,  "  De  Praescrip."  c.  20. 

^  Thus,  on  one  occasion,  Cyprian  raised  a  contribution  of  about  $4,500  in 
Carthage  to  purchase  the  release  of  some  Christians  of  Numidia.  Cyprian, 
Epi  .  Ix.,  p.  216.  Tertullian  said  to  the  heathen,  "  Our  charity  dispenses 
more  in  every  street  than  your  religion  in  each  temple." — ApoL,  c.  42. 


BENEFICIAL   EFFECTS   OF   THE   GOSPEL.  297 

Thus,  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Gallus,  when  a  pestilence 
spread  dismay  throughout  North  Africa/  and  when  the  pagans 
shamefully  deserted  their  nearest  relatives  in  the  hour  of  their 
extremity,  the  Christians  stepped  forward,  and  ministered  to 
the  wants  of  the  sick  and  dying  without  distinction."  Some 
years  afterward,  when  the  plague  desolated  Alexandria,  and 
when  the  Gentile  inhabitants  left  the  dead  unburied  and  cast 
out  the  dying  into  the  streets,  the  disciples  vied  with  each 
other  in  their  efforts  to  alleviate  the  general  suffering.^  The 
most  worthless  men  can  scarcely  forget  acts  of  kindness  per- 
formed under  such  circumstances.  Forty  years  afterward,  when 
the  Church  in  the  capital  of  Egypt  was  overtaken  by  the 
Diocletian  persecution,  their  pagan  neighbors  concealed  the 
Christians  in  their  houses,  and  submitted  to  fines  and  imprison- 
ment rather  than  betray  the  refugees.* 

The  fact  that  the  heathen  were  ready  to  shelter  the  perse- 
cuted members  of  the  Church  is  itself  of  importance  as  a  sign 
of  the  times.  When  the  disciples  first  began  to  rise  into  no- 
tice in  the  great  towns,  they  were  commonly  regarded  with 
aversion ;  and,  when  the  citizens  were  assembled  in  thousands 
at  the  national  spectacles,  no  cry  was  more  vociferously  re- 
peated than  that  of  "  The  Christians  to  the  lions."  But  this 
bigoted  and  intolerant  spirit  was  fast  passing  away;  and  when 
the  State  now  set  on  foot  a  persecution,  it  could  not  reckon  so 
extensively  on  the  support  of  popular  antipathy.  The  Church 
had  attained  such  a  position  that  the  calumnies  once  repeated 
to  its  prejudice  could  no  longer  obtain  credence ;  the  superior 
excellence  of  its  system  of  morals  was  visible  to  all ;  and  it 
could  point  on  every  side  to  the  blessings  it  communicated.  It 
could  demonstrate,  by  a  reference  to  its  history,  that  it  pro- 
duced kind  masters  and  dutiful  servants,  affectionate  parents 
and  obedient  children,  faithful  friends  and  benevolent  citizens. 
On  all  classes,  whether  rich  or  poor,  learned  or  unlearned,  its 
effects  were  beneficial.     It  elevated  the  character  of  the  work- 

1  About  A.D.  252, 

^Cyprian,  "Ad  Demetrianum,"  and  "  De  Mortalitate."  "  Vita  Cypriani 
per  Pentium, "  c.  9. 

°  Euseb.  vii.  22.         ■•  Athanasius,  "  Hist.  Arian.  ad  Monachos,"  §64. 


298  SOCIAL   INFLUENCE   OF  THE   GOSPEL. 

ing  classes,  it  vastly  improved  the  position  of  the  wife,  it  com- 
forted the  afflicted,  and  it  taught  even  senators  wisdom.  Its 
doctrines,  whether  preached  to  the  half-naked  Picts  or  the 
polished  Athenians,  to  the  fierce  tribes  of  Germany  or  the 
literary  coteries  of  Alexandria,  exerted  the  same  holy  and 
happy  influence.  It  promulgated  a  religion  obviously  fitted 
for  all  mankind.  There  had  long  since  been  a  prediction  that 
its  dominion  would  extend  "  from  sea  to  sea  and  from  the 
river  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth  ";  and  its  progress  already  in- 
dicated that  the  promise  was  receiving  its  accomplishment. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME  IN  THE  SECOND  CENTURY. 

The  great  doctrines  of  Christianity' are  built  on  the  facts 
of  the  life  of  our  Lord.  These  facts  are  related  by  the  four 
evangelists  with  singular  precision,  and  yet  with  a  variety  of 
statement,  as  to  details,  which  proves  that  each  writer  deliv- 
ered an  independent  testimony.  The  witnesses  all  agree  when 
describing  the  wonderful  history  of  the  Captain  of  our  Salva- 
tion ;  and  they  dwell  upon  the  narrative  with  a  minuteness 
corresponding  to  the  importance  of  the  doctrine  which  the 
facts  establish  or  illustrate.  Hence  it  is  that,  while  they  scarcely 
notice,  or  altogether  omit,  several  items  of  our  Saviour's  biog- 
raphy, they  speak  particularly  of  His  birth  and  of  His  miracles, 
of  His  death  and  of  His  resurrection.  Thus,  all  the  great 
facts  of  the  Gospel  are  most  amply  authenticated. 

It  is  not  so  with  the  system  of  Romanism ;  as  nothing  can 
be  weaker  than  the  historical  basis  on  which  it  rests.  The 
New  Testament  demonstrates  that  Peter  was  not  the  Prince  of 
the  Apostles ;  for  it  records  the  rebuke  which  our  Lord  deliv- 
ered to  the  Twelve  when  they  strove  among  themselves  "  which 
of  them  should  be  accounted  the  greatest." '  It^also  supplies 
evidence  that  neither  Peter  nor  Paul  founded  the  Church  of 
Rome ;  as,  before  that  Church  had  been  visited  by  the  Apostle 
of  the  Gentiles,  its  faith  was  "  spoken  of  throughout  the  whole 
world  "; '  and  the  apostle  of  the  circumcision  was  meanwhile 
laboring  in  another  part  of  the  Empire.'  When  writing  to  the 
Romans  in  a.d.  57,  Paul  greets  many  members  of  the  Church, 
and  mentions  the  names  of  a  great  variety  of  individuals;* 

*  Luke  xxii.  24-26.  '  Rom.  i.  8,  13. 

•Gal.  ii.  7-9.  *Rom.  xvi.  3-15. 

(299) 


30O  THE   CHURCH   OF   ROME, 

but,  throughout  his  long  epistle,  Peter  is  not  once  noticed. 
Had  he  been  connected  with  that  Christian  community,  he 
would,  beyond  doubt,  have  been  prominently  recognized. 

There  is,  indeed,  a  sense  in  which  Peter  may,  perhaps,  be 
said  to  have  founded  the  great  Church  of  the  West ;  for  it  is 
possible  that  some  of  the  "  strangers  of  Rome," '  who  heard 
his  celebrated  sermon  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  were  then  con- 
verted by  his  ministry ;  and  that  these  converts,  on  their  re- 
turn home,  disseminated  the  truth,  and  organized  a  Christian 
society,  in  the  chief  city  of  the  Empire.  This,  however,  is  but 
matter  of  conjecture  ;  and  it  is  now  useless  to  speculate  on  the 
subject ;  as,  in  the  absence  of  historical  materials  to  furnish  us 
with  information,  the  question  must  remain  involved  in  im- 
penetrable mystery.  It  is  certain  that  the  Roman  Church  was 
established  long  before  it  was  visited  by  an  apostle ;  and  it  is 
equally  clear  that  its  members  were  distinguished,  at  an  early 
period,  by  their  Christian  excellence.  When  Paul  was  a  prisoner 
for  the  first  time  in  the  great  city,  he  was  freely  permitted  to 
exercise  his  ministry ;  but,  subsequently,  when  there  during 
the  Neronian  persecution,  he  was,  according  to  the  current 
tradition,  seized  and  put  to  death."  Peter's  martyrdom  took 
place,  probably,  some  time  afterward  ;  but  the  legend  describ- 
ing it  contains  very  improbable  details,  and  the  facts  have  ob- 
viously been  distorted  and  exaggerated. 

For  at  least  seventy  years  after  the  death  of  the  apostle 
of  the  circumcision,  nothing  whatever  is  known  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  Roman  Church,  except  the  names  of  some  of  its 
leading  ministers.  It  was  originally  governed,  like  other 
Christian  communities,  by  the  common  council  of  the  presby- 
ters, who,  as  a  matter  of  order,  had  a  chairman ;  but  though, 
about  a  hundred  years  after  the  martyrdom  of  Paul,  when  the 
presidents  bega/i  to  be  designated  bisJiops,  an  attempt  was 
made  to  settle  their  order  of  succession,'  the  result  was  by  no 

'  Acts  ii.  lo.  "  Euseb.  ii.  22. 

»  Hegesippus  was  the  first  who  attempted  to  draw  up  a  list  of  the  bish- 
ops, or  presiding  presbyters  of  Rome.  See  Pearson's  Criticism  on  Euseb. 
iv.  22,  in  his  "  Minor  Works,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  319,  Oxford,  1844;  and  Routh's 
"Reliquiae,"  i.,  pp.  270,  271. 


THE  EPISCOPAL  SUCCESSION.  30I 

means  satisfactory.  Some  of  the  earliest  writers  who  touch 
incidentally  on  the  question,  are  inconsistent  with  themselves ' 
and  flatly  contradict  each  other.*  In  fact,  to  this  day,  what  is 
called  the  episcopal  succession  in  the  ancient  Church  of  Rome, 
is  an  historical  riddle.  At  first  no  one  individual  acted  for  life 
as  the  president  or  moderator  of  the  presbytery,  but,  as  it  was 
well  known  that  at  an  early  date  several  eminent  pastors  had 
belonged  to  it,  the  most  distinguished  names  found  their  way 
into  the  catalogues,  and  each  writer  consulted  his  own  taste 
or  judgment  in  regulating  the  order  of  succession.  Thus  it 
has  occurred  that  their  lists  are  utterly  irreconcilable.  All 
such  genealogies  are,  indeed,  of  exceedingly  dubious  credit, 
and  those  who  deem  them  of  importance  must  always  be  per- 
plexed by  the  candid  acknowledgment  of  the  father  of  ecclesi- 
astical history.  "  How  many,"  says  he,  "  and  who,  prompted 
by  a  kindred  spirit,  were  judged  fit  to  feed  the  churches  es- 
tablished by  the  apostles,  it  is  not  easy  to  say,  any  farther  than 
may  be  gathered  from  the  statements  of  Paul.' ' ' 

About  A.D.  139,  Telesphorus,  then  at  the  head  of  the  Ro- 
man presbytery,  was  put  to  death  for  his  profession  of  the 
Gospel ;  but  the  earliest  authority  for  this  fact  is  a  Christian 
controversialist  who  wrote  upward  of  forty  years  afterward ;  * 
and  we  are  totally  ignorant  of  all  the  circumstances  connected 
with  the  martyrdom.  The  Church  of  the  capital,  which  had 
hitherto  enjoyed  internal  tranquillity,  began  in  the  time  of 
Hyginus,  who  succeeded  Telesphorus,  to  be  disturbed  by  false 
teachers,    Valentine,  Cerdo,  and  other  famous  heresiarchs,  ap- 

'  Thus,  Irenasus  (i.  27)  speaks  of  Hyginus  as  the  ninth,  and  again  (iii.  3), 
as  the  eighth  in  succession  from  the  apostles. 

"  Thus,  Irenaeus  affirms  (iii.  3)  that  Linus  was  the  immediate  successor  of 
the  apostles,  whilst  Tertullian,  who  was  his  contemporary,  and  who  pos- 
sessed equally  good  means  of  information,  assigns  that  position  to  Clement. 
"  De  Prcescrip.  Heeret."  c.  32. 

'  Euseb,,  iii.  4.  In  the  Preface  to  his  History  he  describes  himself  as  en- 
tering on  a  "  solitary  and  trackless  course,"  where  he  could  not  find  "  even 
the  bare  footprints  "  of  former  investigators. 

Mrenaeus,  "Contra  Cm.  Haer.,"  iii.  3,  §  3.  Bunsen  has  justly  remarked 
that,  "  with  Telesphorus  the  most  obscure  period  of  the  Roman  Church  ter- 
minates."— Hippolytus,  iv.,  pp.  209,  210. 


302  CHANGE  OF  POLITY. 

peared  in  Rome ; '  and  labored  with  great  assiduity  to  dissemi- 
nate their  principles.  The  distractions  created  by  these  error- 
ists  suggested  the  propriety  of  placing  additional  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  presiding  presbyter?  Until  this  period  every 
teaching  elder  had  been  accustomed  to  baptize  and  adminis- 
ter the  Eucharist  on  his  own  responsibility ;  but  it  was  now 
arranged  that  henceforth  none  should  act  without  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  president,  who  was  thus  constituted  the  centre  of 
ecclesiastical  unity.  According  to  the  previous  system,  some 
of  the  presbyters,  who  were  themselves  tainted  with  unsound 
doctrine,  might  have  continued  to  hold  communion  with  the 
heretics ;  and  it  would  have  been  exceedingly  difficult  to  con- 
vict them  of  any  direct  breach  of  ecclesiastical  law ;  but  now 
their  power  was  curtailed ;  and  a  broad  line  of  demarcation 
was  established  between  true  and  false  churchmen.  Thus, 
Rome  was  the  city  in  which  what  has  been  called  the  Catholic 
system  was  first  organized.  Every  one  in  communion  with 
the  president,  or  bishop,  was  a  Catholic ; '  every  one  who  al- 
lied himself  to  any  other  professed  teacher  of  the  Christian 
faith  was  a  sectary,  a  schismatic,  or  a  heretic* 

The  study  of  the  best  forms  of  government  was  peculiarly 
congenial  to  the  Roman  mind ;  and  the  peace  enjoyed  under 
the  Empire,  as  contrasted  with  the  miseries  of  the  civil  wars 
in  the  last  days  of  the  Republic,  pleaded  strongly  in  favor  of 
a  change  in  the  ecclesiastical  constitution.  But  though  this 
portion  of  the  history  of  the  Church  is  involved  in  much  ob- 
scurity, there  are  indications  that  the  transference  of  power 
from  the  presbyters  to  their  president  was  not  accomplished 
without  a  struggle.     Until  this  period  the  Roman  elders  gen- 

'  Irenasus,  iii.  4,  §  3. 

"  This  name  continued  to  be  given  to  the  Roman  bishop  till  at  least  the 
close  of  the  second  century.     See  Irenasus  quoted  in  Euseb.  v.  24. 

a  Kn6o?itKog.  See  this  subject  more  fully  illustrated  in  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii., 
chap.  viii.  See  also  Cooper's  "  Free  Church  of  Ancient  Christendom,"  pp. 
227-8. 

*"Qui  absistunta  principali  successione,  et  quocunquc  lococolligunt,  sus- 
pectos  habere  (oportet)  vel  quasi  hasrelicos  et  malas  sententias ;  vel  quasi 
scindentes  et  elatos  et  sibi  placentas ;  aut  rursus  ut  hypocritas,  quasstui 
gratia  et  vanai  gloria;  hoc  operantes."     Irenaeus,  iv.  26,  §  2. 


DISSATISFACTION   OF   POLYCARP.  303 

erally  succeeded  each  other  as  moderators  of  presbytery  in 
the  order  of  their  seniority ; '  but  it  was  now  deemed  neces- 
sary to  adopt  another  method  of  appointment ;  and  it  would 
appear  that,  at  this  time,  a  division  of  sentiment  as  to  the 
best  mode  of  filling  up  the  presidential  chair,  was  the  cause 
of  an  unusually  long  vacancy.  According  to  some,  no  less 
than  four  years'  passed  away  between  the  death  of  Hyginus 
and  the  choice  of  his  successor,  Pius ;  and  even  those  who  ob- 
ject to  this  view  of  the  chronology  admit  that  there  was  an  in- 
terval of  a  twelvemonth/  The  plan  adopted  was  to  choose 
the  bishop  by  lot  out  of  a  leet  of  selected  candidates.*  Thus, 
to  use  the  phraseology  current  toward  the  end  of  the  second 
century,  the  new  chief  pastor  '*  obtained  the  lot  of  the  episco- 
pacy." ^ 

The  changes  introduced  at  Rome  were  far  from  agreeable 
to  many  other  Churches  throughout  the  Empire  ;  and  Poly- 
carp,  the  venerable  pastor  of  Smyrna,  afterward  martyred,  and 
now  nearly  eighty  years  of  age,  was  sent  to  the  imperial  city 
on  a  mission  of  remonstrance.  This  remarkable  visit  is  still 
enveloped  in  much  mystery,  for  with  the  exception  of  an  al- 
lusion to  a  question  confessedly  of  secondary  consequence," 
ecclesiastical  writers  have  passed  over  the  whole  subject  in 
suspicious  silence ;  but  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
Polycarp  was  deputed  to  complain  of  the  incipient  assump- 

'  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap.  vii. 

^  Blondel's  "  Apologia  pro  sententia  Hieronymi,"  p.  18.  Under  ordinary 
circumstances  the  new  president,  or  bishop,  was  often  elected  before  his  pre- 
decessor was  buried.     See  Bingham,  book  ii.,  c.  xi.,  §  2. 

'  See  Pearson's  "  Minor  Works,"  ii.  520. 

^  This  method  of  appointment  continued  to  be  observed  long  afterward  in 
some  parts  of  the  Church.  See  Bingham,  book  iv.,  chap,  i.,  sec.  i.  At  Al- 
exandria, in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  the  presbyters  selected 
three  of  their  senior  members,  of  whom  the  people  chose  one.  Cotelerius, 
ii.,  app.,  p.  180.  See  also  the  canon  of  a  council  held  at  Barcelona,  A.D. 
599,  quoted  in  "Columbanus  ad  Hibernos,"  Letter  i.,  p.  29. 

'  I0V  TTji;  k-TnaiiOTLf/q  nlf/pov.    "  Irenasus,"  ed.  Stieren,  i.,  p.  433. 

*  The  Paschal  feast.  Irenasus  admits  that  this  point  formed  only  a  sub- 
ordinate topic  of  discussion.     See  Stieren's  "  Ireuceus,"  i.,  p.  826,  note  6. 


304  EARLY   INFLUE^XE   OF   ROME, 

tions  of  Roman  prelacy.'  Anicetus,  who  then  presided  over 
the  Church  of  the  capital,  prudently  bestowed  very  flattering 
attentions  on  the  good  old  Asiatic  pastor ;  and,  though  there 
is  no  evidence  that  his  scruples  were  removed,  he  felt  it  to  be 
his  duty  to  assist  in  opposing  the  corrupt  teachers  who  were 
seeking  to  propagate  their  errors  among  the  Roman  disciples. 
The  testimony  to  primitive  truth  delivered  by  so  aged  and 
eminent  a  minister  produced  a  deep  impression,  and  gave  a 
decided  check  to  the  progress  of  heresy  in  the  metropolis  of 
the  Empire." 

But  though  prelacy  so  soon  encountered  opposition,  the 
innovation  inaugurated  in  the  great  city  was  sure  to  exert 
a  most  extensive  influence.  Rome  was  then,  not  only  the 
capital,  but  the  mistress  of  a  large  portion  of  the  world. 
She  kept  up  a  constant  communication  with  every  part  of 
her  dominions  in  Asia,  Africa,  and  Europe ;  strangers  from 
almost  every  clime  were  to  be  found  among  her  teeming 
population ;  and  intelligence  of  whatever  occurred  within 
her  walls  quickly  found  its  way  to  distant  cities  and  prov- 
inces. The  Christians  in  other  countries  were  slow  to  be- 
lieve that  their  brethren  at  headquarters  had  consented  to 
any  unwarrantable  distribution  of  Church  power,  for  they  had 
hitherto  displayed  their  zeal  for  the  faith  by  most  decisive 
and  illustrious  testimonies.  Since  the  days  of  Nero  they  had 
sustained  the  first  shock  of  every  persecution,  and  nobly  led 
the  van  of  the  army  of  martyrs.  Telesphorus,  the  chairman 
of  the  presbytery,  had  recently  paid  for  his  position  with  his 
life  ;  their  presiding  pastor  was  always  specially  obnoxious 
to  the  spirit  of  intolerance  ;  and  if  they  were  anxious  to 
strengthen  his  hands,  who  could  complain  ?  The  Roman 
Church  had  the  credit  of  having  enjoyed  the  tuition  of  emi- 
nent teachers ;  its  members  had  long  been  distinguished  for 
intelligence  and  piety ;  and  it  was  not  to  be  supposed  that 
its  ministers  had  sanctioned  any  step  which  they  did  not  con- 
sider perfectly  capable  of  vindication.  There  were  other 
weighty  reasons  why  Christian  societies  in   Italy,  as  well  as 

'  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap.  vii.  '  Euseb.  iv.  14. 


ROME   AND   CARTHAGE.  305 

elsewhere,  regarded  the  acts  of  the  Church  of  the  imperial 
city  with  peculiar  indulgence.  It  was  the  sentinel  at  the 
seat  of  government  to  give  them  notice  of  the  approach  of 
danger/  and  the  kind  friend  to  aid  them  in  times  of  difficulty. 
The  wealth  of  Rome  was  prodigious ;  and  though  as  yet  "  not 
many  mighty  "  and  "  not  many  noble  "  had  joined  the  pro- 
scribed sect,  it  had  been  making  way  among  the  middle 
classes ;  and  there  is  cause  to  think  that  at  this  time  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  rich  merchants  of  the  capital  be- 
longed to  its  communion.  It  was  known  early  in  the  second 
century  as  a  liberal  benefactor ;  and,  from  a  letter  addressed 
to  it  about  A.D.  170,  it  would  appear  that  even  the  Church  of 
Corinth  was  then  indebted  to  its  munificence.  "  It  has  ever 
been  your  habit,"  says  the  writer,  *'  to  confer  benefits  in  vari- 
ous ways,  and  to  send  assistance  to  the  Churches  in  every 
city.  You  have  relieved  the  wants  of  the  poor,  and  afforded 
help  to  the  brethren  condemned  to  the  mines.  By  a  succes- 
sion of  these  gifts,  Romans,  you  preserve  the  customs  of  your 
Roman  ancestors."' 

The  influence  of  the  Roman  Church  throughout  the  West 
soon  became  conspicuous.  Here,  as  in  many  other  instances, 
commerce  was  the  pioneer  of  religion  ,  and  as  the  merchants 
of  the  capital  traded  with  all  the  ports  of  their  great  inland 
sea,  their  sailors  had  a  share  in  achieving  some  of  the  early 
triumphs  of  the  Gospel.  Carthage,  one  of  the  most  populous 
cities  in  the  Empire,  was  indebted  for  Christianity  to  Rome ; ' 
and  by  means  of  the  constant  intercourse  kept  up  between 
these  two  commercial  marts,  the  mother  Church  maintained 
an  ascendency  over  her  African  daughter.     Thus  it  was  that 

'  Cyprian  speaks  of  sending  messengers  to  Rome  "  to  ascertain  and  re- 
port as  to  any  rescript  published  respecting  "  the  Christians.  "  Epist.  ad 
Successum,"     The  Roman  clergy  could  at  once  supply  the  information. 

■■'  Extract  of  a  letter  from  Dionysius  of  Corinth,  preserved  in  Eusebius, 
iv.  23. 

'  The  testimonies  to  this  fact  may  be  found  discussed  in  Miinter's  "  Pri- 
mordia  Ecclesice  Africanas,"  p.  10.  Herodian,  who  flourished  in  the  third 
century,  speaks  of  Carthage  as  the  next  city  after  Rome  in  size  and  wealth. 
Lib.  vii.  6. 

20 


306  IREN^US   AND   THE   CHURCH   OF   ROME. 

certain  Romish  practices  and  pretensions  so  soon  found  ad- 
vocates among  the  Carthaginian  clergy.'  In  other  quarters 
we  discover  early  indications  of  the  extraordinary  deference 
paid  to  the  Church  of  the  city  "  sitting  upon  many  waters." 
Toward  the  close  of  the  second  century,  Irenceus,  a  disciple 
of  Polycarp,  was  pastor  of  Lyons  ;  and  from  this  some  have 
rather  abruptly  drawn  the  inference  that  the  Christian  con- 
gregations then  existing  in  the  south  of  France  were  estab- 
lished by  missionaries  from  the  East ;  but  it  is  at  least  equally 
probable  that  the  young  minister  from  Asia  Minor  was  in 
Rome  before  he  passed  to  the  more  distant  Gaul ;  and  he  is 
the  first  father  who  speaks  of  the  superior  importance  of  the 
Church  of  the  Italian  metropolis.'  His  testimony  to  the  po- 
sition which  it  occupied  about  eighty  years  after  the  death  of 
the  Apostle  John,  shows  clearly  that  it  stood  already  at  the 
head  of  the  Western  Churches.  The  Church  of  Rome,  says 
he,  is  "  very  great  and  very  ancient,  and  known  to  all, 
founded  and  established  by  the  two  most  glorious  Apostles 
Peter  and  Paul."'  "To  this  Church,  in  which  Catholics* 
have  always  preserved  apostolic  tradition,  every  Catholic 
Church  should,  because  it  is  more  potentially  apostolical,''  re- 
pair," " 

The  term  Catholic,  which  occurs  for  the  first  time  in  a  docu- 

*  In  this  way  we  readily  account  for  various  statements  in  TertuUian  and 
Cyprian. 

*  Tliat  he  acted  as  the  champion  of  the  Church  of  Rome  appears  from 
Euseb.  V.  20. 

'  We  here  see  how  a  father  who  wrote  so  soon  after  the  apostolic  age, 
blunders  egregiously  respecting  the  history  of  the  Apostolic  Church. 

*  So  I  understand  "  his  qui  sunt  undique."  See  Wordsworth's  "  Hippo- 
lytus,"  p.  200.  We  have  thus  a  remarkable  proof  that  the  word  catholic 
was  not  in  ecclesiastical  use  among  the  Latins  when  Ireuc-eus  wrote,  for 
his  translator  here  exjiresscs  the  idea  by  a  circumlocution.  See  Irenaeus, 
Ante-Nicene  Christian  Library,  Book  iii.,  11,  p.  293,  note,  and  iii.  15,  p. 
321,  note. 

'■  "  Propter  potentiorem  principalitatem." 

'  Irenaeus,  iii.  3.  See  on  this  passage  Gieseler,  by  Cunningham,  i.  97, 
note.     See  also  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap.  viii. 


AUTHORITY   OF   ROMAN   TRADITIONS.  307 

ment  written  about  this  period/  was  probably  coined  at 
Rome ;  and  implied,  as  already  intimated,  that  the  individual 
so  designated  was  in  communion  with  the  bishop.  The  pre- 
siding pastors  in  the  great  city  began  now,  in  to'ken  of  fra- 
ternity and  recognition,  to  send  the  Eucharist  to  their  breth- 
ren elsewhere  by  trusty  messengers,^  and  thus  the  name  was 
soon  extended  to  all  who  maintained  ecclesiastical  relations 
with  these  leading  ministers.  Sectaries  were  almost  always 
the  minority;  and  in  many  places,  where  Christianity  was 
planted,  they  were  utterly  unknown.  The  orthodox  could, 
therefore,  not  inappropriately  be  styled  members  of  the 
Catholic  or  g'enera/  Church,  inasmuch  as  they  formed  the  bulk 
of  the  Christian  population,  and  were  found  wherever  the 
new  religion  had  made  converts.  And  though  the  heretics 
pleaded  tradition  in  support  of  their  peculiar  dogmas,  their 
statements  could  not  stand  the  test  of  examination.  Irenseus, 
in  the  work  from  which  the  words  just  quoted  are  extracted, 
very  fairly  argues  that  no  such  traditions  as  those  propagated 
by  the  sectaries  were  known  in  the  most  ancient  and  respect- 
able Churches.  No  Christian  community  in  Western  Europe 
claimed  higher  antiquity  than  that  of  Rome ;  and  as  it  had 
been  taught,  as  he  alleges,  by  Paul  and  Peter,  none  should 
have  been  better  acquainted  with  the  original  Gospel.  Be- 
cause of  its  extent  it  already  required  a  larger  staff  of  minis- 
ters than  any  other  Church ;  and  thus  there  were  a  greater 
number  of  individuals  to  quicken  and  correct  each  other's 
recollections.  It  was  accordingly  to  be  inferred  that  the  tra- 
ditions of  surrounding  Christian  societies,  if  true,  should  cor- 
respond to  those  of  Rome ;  as  the  great  metropolitan  Church 
could,  for  various  reasons,  be  said  to  be  more  potentially 
primitive  or  apostolical,  and  as  its  traditions  should  have 
been  particularly  accurate.     The    doctrines    of   the    heretics, 

'  The  circular  letter  relating  to  the  martyrdom  of  Polycarp  quoted  in 
Euseb.  iv,  15.  It  was  written  a  considerable  time  after  the  death  of  the 
martyr,  as  it  speaks  of  the  way  in  which  his  memory  was  cherished  when  it 
was  drawn  up.     §  19. 

*  Irenaeus  quoted  in  Euseb.  v.  24.     See  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap.  viii. 


3o8  MARCIA   AND   VICTOR. 

which  were  opposed  to  the  testimony  of  this  important  wit- 
ness, were  to  be  discarded  as  destitute  of  authority. 

We  can  only  conjecture  the  route  by  which  Irenaeus  trav- 
elled to  the  south  of  France  when  he  first  set  out  from  Asia 
Minor ;  but  we  have  direct  evidence  that  he  had  paid  a  visit 
to  the  capital  shortly  before  he  wrote  this  memorable  eulo- 
gium  on  the  Roman  Church.  About  the  close  of  the  dread- 
ful persecution  endured  in  A.D.  177  by  the  Christians  of 
Lyons  and  Vienne,  he  had  been  commissioned  to  repair  to 
Italy  with  a  view  to  a  settlement  of  the  disputes  created  by 
the  appearance  of  the  Montanists.  As  he  was  furnished  with 
very  complimentary  credentials/  he  was  handsomely  treated 
by  his  friends  in  the  metropolis  ;  and  if  he  returned  home  laden 
with  presents  to  disciples  whose  sufferings  had  recently  so 
deeply  moved  the  sympathy  of  their  brethren,  it  is  not  strange 
that  he  gracefully  seized  an  opportunity  of  extolling  the 
Church  to  which  he  owed  such  obligations.  His  account  of 
its  greatness  is  obviously  the  inflated  language  of  a  pane- 
gyrist ;  but  in  due  time  its  hyperbolic  statements  received  a 
still  more  extravagant  interpretation  ;  and,  on  the  authority 
of  this  ancient  father,  the  Church  of  Rome  was  pompously 
announced  as  the  mistress  and  the  mother  of  all  Churches. 

It  has  been  mentioned  in  a  former  chapter'  that  the  cele- 
brated Marcia,  who,  till  shortly  before  his  death,  possessed 
almost  absolute  control  over  the  Emperor  Commodus,  made 
a  profession  of  the  faith.  Her  example  encouraged  other 
personages  of  distinction  to  connect  themselves  with  the  Ro- 
man Church  ; '  and,  through  the  medium  of  these  members  of 
his  flock,  the  bishop  Eleutherius  had  an  influence  such  as  none 
of  his  predecessors  possessed.  It  is  beyond  doubt  that  Marcia, 
after  consulting  with  Victor,  the  successor  of  Eleutherius,  in- 
duced the  Emperor  to  perform  acts  of  kindness  to  some  of 
her  co-religionists.*  The  favor  of  the  court  puffed  up  the 
spirit  of  this  naturally  haughty  churchman  ;  and  though,  as 
we  have  seen,  certain  ecclesiastical  movements  in  the  chief 

'  We  have  an  extract  from  them  in  Euseb.  v.  4. 

"  Period  ii.,  sec.  i.,  chap,  ii.,  p.  268.  *  See  Euseb.  v.  21. 

*  Hippolytus,  "  Refut.  Om.  Hasres.,"  book  ix. 


VICTOR.  309 

city  had  long  before  excited  much  ill-suppressed  dissatisfac- 
tion, the  Christian  commonwealth  was  now  startled  for  the 
first  time  by  a  very  flagrant  exhibition  of  the  arrogance  of  a 
Roman  prelate.'  Because  the  Churches  of  Asia  Minor  cele- 
brated the  Paschal  feast  in  a  way  different  from  that  observed 
in  the  metropolis/  Victor  cut  them  off  from  his  communion. 
But  this  attempt  of  the  bishop  of  the  great  city  to  act  as  lord 
over  God's  heritage  was  premature.  Other  churches  con- 
demned the  rashness  of  his  procedure  ;  his  refusal  to  hold  fel- 
lowship with  the  Asiatic  Christians  threatened  only  to  isolate 
himself ;  and  he  soon  found  it  expedient  to  cultivate  more 
pacific  councils. 

At  this  time  the  jurisdiction  of  Victor  did  not  properly  ex- 
tend beyond  the  few  ministers  and  congregations  in  the  impe- 
rial city.  A  quarter  of  a  century  afterward  even  the  bishop 
of  Portus,  a  seaport  town  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  fifteen 
miles  distant  from  the  capital,  acknowledged  no  allegiance  to 
the  Roman  prelate.^  The  boldness  of  Victor  in  pronouncing 
so  many  foreign  brethren  unworthy  of  Catholic  communion 
may  at  first,  therefore,  appear  unaccountable.  But  he  acted, 
in  this  instance,  in  conjunction  with  many  other  pastors. 
Among  the  Churches  of  Gentile  origin  there  was  a  deep  prej- 
udice against  what  was  considered  the  Judaizing  of  the  Asi- 
atic Christians  in  relation  to  the  Paschal  festival,  and  a  strong 
impression  that  the  character  of  the  Church  was  compromised 
by  any  very  marked  diversity  in  its  religious  observances. 
There  is,  however,  reason  to  think  that  Victor  was  to  some 
extent  prompted  by  motives  of  a  different  complexion.     Fifty 

'  This  occurred  early  in  the  reign  of  Septimius  Severus,  who  at  first  is 
said  to  have  been  very  favorable  to  the  Church.  Shortly  before,  many  in 
Rome  of  great  wealth  and  eminent  station  had  become  Christians. — Euseb. 
v.,  c.  21. 

2  See  a  more  minute  account  of  this  controversy  in  Period  ii.,  sec',  iii., 
chap.  xii.  Eusebius  describes  Victor  as  attempting  to  cut  off  these  churches 
"from  the  cofnmon  unity,"  v.  24. 

'  This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  Hippolytus  is  scarcely  willing  to  rec- 
ognize som,e  of  the  Roman  bishops,  his  contemporaries.  But  both  parties 
probably  belonged  to  the  same  synod.  Hippolytus  was  the  leader  of  a  for- 
midable opposition. 


3IO  THE  SUCCESSOR  OF  PETER. 

years  before,  the  remarkable  words  addressed  to  the  apostle  of 
the  circumcision — "  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  Rock  I  will 
build  my  Church  "  ' — were  interpreted  at  Rome  in  the  way  in 
which  they  are  understood  commonly  by  Protestants  ;  for  the 
brother  of  the  Roman  bishop  Pius,*  writing  about  a.d.  150, 
teaches  that  the  Rock  on  which  the  Church  is  built  is  the  Son 
of  God  ; '  but  ingenuity  was  already  beginning  to  discover  an- 
other exposition,  and  the  growing  importance  of  the  Roman 
bishopric  suggested  the  startling  thought  that  the  Church  was 
built  on  Peter  ! '  The  name  of  the  Galilean  fisherman  began 
to  be  connected  with  the  see  of  Victor ;  and  it  was  easy  for 
ambition  or  flattery  to  draw  the  inference  that  Victor  himself 
was  in  some  way  the  heir  and  representative  of  the  great 
apostle.  The  doctrine  that  the  bishop  was  necessary  at  the 
centre  of  Catholic  unity  had  already  gained  currency ;  and  if 
a  centre  of  unity  for  the  whole  Church  was  also  indispensable, 
who  had  a  better  claim  to  the  pre-eminence  than  the  successor 
of  Peter?  When  Victor  fulminated  his  sentence  of  excom- 
munication against  the  Asiatic  Christians  he  acted  under  the 

'  Matt.  xvi.  18. 

*  See  the  Muratorian  fragment  in  Bunsen's  "  Analecta  Ante-Nicaena,"  i. 
154,  155.  This,  according  to  Bunsen,  is  a  fragment  of  a  work  of  Hegesip- 
pus,  and  written  about  A.D.  165.     Hippolytus,  i.  314. 

'  "  Hermae  Pastor,"  lib.  iii.,  simil.  ix.,  §  12-14.     "  Petra  haec  ....  Filius 

Del  est Quid  est  deinde  hasc  turris?     Haec,  inquit,  ecclesia  est. 

....  Demonstra  mihi  quare  non  in  terra  aedificatur  haec  turris,  sed  supra 
petram." 

*  TertuUian,  "  De  Prasscrip."  xxii.  "  Latuit  aliquid  Petrum  asdificandas 
ecclesiae  petram  dictum  ? "  TertuUian  here  speaks  of  the  doctrine  as 
already  current.  Even  after  he  became  a  Montanist,  he  still  adhered  to 
the  same  mterpretation — "  Petrum  solum  invenio  maritum,  per  socrum  ; 
monogamum  praesumo  per  ecclcsiatn,  qjfCE  super  illinn  cedificaia  omnem 
gradum  ordinis  sui  de  monogamis  erat  collocatura." — De  Monogamia,  c. 
viii.  Again,  in  another  Montanist  tract,  he  says  :  "  Quails  es,  evertens 
atque  commutans  manifestam  domini  intentlonem  personaliter  hoc  Petro 
conferentem  ?  Super  te,  inquit,  adificabo  ecclesiam  tneain." — De  Pudici- 
tta,  c.  xxi.  See  also  "  De  Praescrip.,"  c.  xxU.  According  to  Origen,  every 
believer,  as  well  as  Peter,  is  the  foundation  of  the  Church,  "  Contra  Cel- 
sum,"  vi.  ^^.  See  also  "  Comment,  in  Matthaeum  xii.,"  Opera,  torn,  iii.,  pp. 
524.  526. 


THE   CATHOLIC   UNITY.  3 II 

partial  inspiration  of  this  novel  theory.  He  made  an  abortive 
attempt  to  speak  in  the  name  of  the  whole  Church — to  assert 
a  position  as  the  representative  or  president  of  all  the  bishops 
of  the  Catholic  world ' — and  to  carry  out  a  new  system  of 
ecclesiastical  unity.  The  experiment  was  a  failure,  simply 
because  the  idea  looming  in  the  imagination  of  the  Roman 
bishop  had  not  yet  obtained  full  possession  of  the  mind  of 
Christendom. 

Prelacy  had  been  employed  as  the  cure  for  Church  divisions, 
but  the  remedy  had  proved  worse  than  the  disease.  Sects 
meanwhile  continued  to  multiply  ;  and  they  were  nowhere  so 
abundant  as  in  the  very  city  where  the  new  machinery  had 
been  set  up  for  their  suppression.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
second  century  their  multitude  was  one  of  the  standing  re- 
proaches of  Christianity.  What  was  called  the  Catholic  Church 
was  now  on  the  brink  of  a  great  schism  ;  and  the  very  man 
who  aspired  to  be  the  centre  of  Catholic  unity,  threatened  to 
be  the  cause  of  the  disruption.  It  was  becoming  more  and 
more  apparent  that,  when  the  presbyters  consented  to  sur- 
render any  portion  of  their  privileges  to  the  bishop,  they  be- 
trayed the  cause  of  ecclesiastical  freedom  ;  and  even  now 
indications  were  not  wanting  that  the  Catholic  system  was 
likely  to  degenerate  into  a  spiritual  despotism. 

'  See  this  subject  more  fully  explained  in  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  ch.  viii. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   CHURCH   OF   ROME   IN   THE   THIRD   CENTURY. 

Though  very  few  of  the  genuine  productions  of  the  min- 
isters of  the  ancient  Church  of  Rome  are  still  extant,'  multi- 
tudes of  spurious  epistles  attributed  to  its  early  bishops  have 
been  carefully  preserved.  It  is  easy  to  account  for  this  appar- 
ent anomaly.  The  documents  known  as  the  false  Decretals,' 
and  ascribed  to  the  Popes  of  the  first  and  immediately  suc- 
ceeding centuries,  were  suited  to  the  taste  of  times  of  igno- 
rance, and  were  peculiarly  grateful  to  the  occupants  of  the 
Roman  see.  As  evidences  of  its  original  superiority  they 
were  accordingly  transmitted  to  posterity,  and  ostentatiously 
exhibited  among  the  Papal  title-deeds.  But  the  real  compo- 
sitions of  the  primitive  pastors  of  the  great  city  supplied 
little  food  for  superstition ;  and  contained  startling  and  hu- 
miliating revelations  which  laid  bare  the  absurdity  of  claims 
subsequently  advanced.  These  unwelcome  witnesses  were, 
therefore,  quietly  permitted  to  pass  into  oblivion. 

It  is  said,  however,  that  Truth  is  the  daughter  of  Time, 
and  the  discovery  of  monuments  long  since  forgotten,  or  of 
writings  supposed  to  be  lost,  has  often  wonderfully  verified 
and   illustrated  the  apologue.     The  reappearance,  within  the 

'  Even  the  letters  of  Victor,  which  created  such  a  sensation  throughout 
the  Church,  are  not  forthcoming.  See  Pearson's  "  Vindici.-e  Ignatianas," 
pars  2,  cap.  13,  as  to  the  spuriousness  of  those  imputed  to  him. 

'  They  extend  from  Clement,  who,  according  to  some  lists,  was  the  first 
Pope,  to  Syricius,  who  was  made  Bishop  of  Rome  A.D.  384.  All  candid 
writers,  whether  Romanists  or  Protestants,  now  acknowledge  them  to  be 
forgeries.  They  may  be  found  in  "  Binii  Concilia."  They  made  their  ap- 
pearance, for  the  first  time,  about  the  eighth  century  or  shortly  afterward. 
(312) 


HIPPOLYTUS.  313 

last  three  hundred  years,  of  various  ancient  records  and  memo- 
rials, has  shed  a  new  hght  on  the  history  of  antiquity.  Other 
testimonies  equally  valuable  will,  no  doubt,  yet  be  forthcoming 
for  the  settlement  of  existing  controversies. 

In  A.D.  155 1,  as  some  workmen  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Rome  were  employed  in  clearing  away  the  ruins  of  a  dilapi- 
dated chapel,  they  found  a  broken  mass  of  sculptured  marble 
among  the  rubbish.  The  fragments,  when  put  together, 
proved  to  be  a  statue  representing  a  person  of  venerable 
aspect  sitting  in  a  chair,  on  the  back  of  which  were  the  names 
of  various  publications.  It  was  ascertained,  on  more  minute 
examination,  that,  some  time  after  the  establishment  of 
Christianity  by  Constantine,"  this  monument  had  been  erected 
in  honor  of  Hippolytus — a  learned  writer  and  able  controver- 
sialist, who  had  been  bishop  of  Portus  in  the  early  part  of 
the  third  century,  and  who  had  finished  his  career  by  martyr- 
dom, about  A.D.  236,  during  the  persecution  under  the  Em- 
peror Maximin.  Hippolytus  is  commemorated  as  a  saint  in 
the  Romish  Breviary  ; '  and  the  resurrection  of  his  statue, 
after  it  had  been  buried  a  thousand  years,  created  quite  a  sen- 
sation among  his  Papal  admirers.  Experienced  sculptors, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Pontiff,  Pius  IV.,  restored  the  frag- 
ments to  nearly  their  previous  condition ;  and  the  renovated 
statue  was  then  duly  honored  with  a  place  in  the  Library  of 
the  Vatican.* 

Nearly  three  hundred  years  afterward,  or  in  1842,  a  manu- 
script which  had  been  found  in  a  Greek  monastery  at  Mount 
Athos,  was  deposited  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Paris.  This 
work,  which  has  been  since  published,^  and  which  is  entitled 

»  This  is  the  date  assigned  to  its  erection  by  Bunsen,  but  Dr.  Words- 
worth argues  that  it  was  erected  earlier. 

"  22d  August. 

'  It  has  since  been  removed  to  the  museum  of  the  Lateran.  According 
to  Mr.  Northcote  ("  Roman  Catacombs,"  p.  85),  it  is  "  spoken  of  by  Winck- 
clmann,  and  other  critics,  as  the  finest  specimen  of  ancient  Christian 
sculpture  in  existence." 

♦The  first  edition  appeared  at  Oxford  in  1851,  exactly  three  hundred 
years  after  the  discovery  of  the  statue. 


314  HIPPOLYTUS. 

"  Philosophumena,  or  a  Refutation  of  all  Heresies,"  has  been 
identified  as  the  production  of  Hippolytus.  It  is  not  named 
in  the  list  of  his  writings  mentioned  on  the  back  of  the  marble 
chair;  but  any  one  who  inspects  its  contents  can  satisfactorily 
account  for  its  exclusion  from  that  catalogue.  It  reflects 
strongly  on  the  character  and  principles  of  some  of  the  early 
Roman  bishops ;  and  as  the  Papal  see  was  fast  rising  into 
power  when  the  statue  was  erected,  it  was  obviously  deemed 
prudent  to  omit  an  invidious  publication.  The  writer  of 
the  "  Philosophumena  "  declares  that  he  is  the  author  of  one 
of  the  books  named  on  that  piece  of  ancient  sculpture,  and 
various  other  facts  amply  corroborate  his  testimony.  There  is, 
therefore,  no  good  reason  to  doubt  that  a  Christian  bishop  who 
lived  about  fifteen  miles  from  Rome  and  who  flourished  little 
more  than  one  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  the  Apostle 
John,  composed  the  newly  discovered  Treatise.' 

In  accordance  with  the  title  of  his  work,  Hippolytus  here 
reviews  all  the  heresies  which  had  been  broached  up  till  the 
date  of  its  publication.  Long  prior  to  the  reappearance  of 
this  production,  it  was  known  that  one  of  the  early  Roman 
bishops  had  been  induced  to  countenance  the  errors  of  the 
Montanists  i''  and  it  would  seem  that  Victor  was  the  indi- 
vidual thus  deceived  ; '  but  it  had  not  been  before  suspected 
that  Zephyrinus  and  Callistus,  the  two  bishops  next  to  him  in 
succession,*  held  unsound  views  respecting  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity.  Such,  however,  is  the  testimony  of  their  neigh- 
bor and  contemporary,  the  bishop  of  Portus.  The  witness 
may,  indeed,  be  somewhat  fastidious,  as  he  was  himself  both 
erudite  and  eloquent ;  but  had  there  not  been  some  glaring 
deficiency  in  both  the  creed  and   the  character  of  the  chief 

'  This  point  has  been  established  by  Bunsen  and  Wordsworth.  Ac- 
cording to  Kurtz  and  others,  Hippolytus  was  a  schismatic  bishop  at  Rome. 
See  Kurtz's  "  History  of  the  Christian  Church  by  Edersheim,"  pp.  133,  137. 

This  is  expressly  stated  by  Tertullian,  "Adversus  Praxeam,"  c.  i. 

See  Bower's  "  History  of  the  Popes."     Victor,  13th  Bishop. 

According  to  the  commonly  received  chronology,  Victor  occupied  the 
papal  chair  from  A.D.  192  to  A.D.  201  ;  Zephyrinus  from  A.D.  201  to  A.D. 
219  ;  and  Callistus  from  A.D.  219  to  A.D.  223. 


CALLISTUS.  315 

pastor  of  Rome,  Hippolytus  would  scarcely  have  described 
Zephyrinus  as  "  an  illiterate  and  covetous  man,"  '  "  unskilled  in 
ecclesiastical  science," "  and  a  disseminator  of  heretical  doc- 
trine. According  to  the  statement  of  his  accuser,  he  con- 
founded the  First  and  Second  Persons  of  the  Godhead,  main- 
taining the  identity  of  the  Father  and  the  Son.' 

Callistus,  who  was  made  bishop  on  the  death  of  Zephyrinus, 
possessed  a  far  more  vigorous  intellect  than  his  predecessor. 
Though  regarded  by  the  orthodox  Hippolytus  with  no  friendly 
eye,  he  was  endowed  with  an  extraordinary  share  of  energy 
and  perseverance.  He  had  been  originally  a  slave,  and  he 
must  have  won  the  confidence  of  his  wealthy  Christian 
master,  Carpophorus,  for  he  had  been  intrusted  by  him 
with  the  care  of  a  savings  bank.  The  establishment  became 
insolvent,  in  consequence,  as  Hippolytus  alleges,  of  the 
mismanagement  of  its  conductor ;  and  many  widows  and 
others  who  had  committed  their  money  to  his  keeping, 
lost  their  deposits.  When  Carpophorus,  by  whom  he  was 
suspected  of  embezzlement,  determined  to  call  him  to  ac- 
count, Callistus  fled  to  Portus — in  the  hope  of  escaping  by 
sea  to  some  other  country.  He  was,  however,  overtaken  ;  and, 
after  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  drown  himself,  was  arrested 
and  thrown  into  prison.  His  master,  placable  and  kind-hearted, 
speedily  consented  to  release  him  from  confinement ;  but  he 
was  no  sooner  at  large,  than,  under  pretence  of  collecting 
debts  due  to  the  savings  bank,  he  went  into  a  Jewish  syna- 
gogue during  the  time  of  public  worship,  and  caused  such 
disturbance  that  he  was  seized  and  dragged  before  the  city 
prefect.  The  magistrate  ordered  him  first  to  be  scourged, 
and  then  transported  to  the  mines  of  Sardinia.  He  did  not 
remain  long  in  exile;  for,  about  this  time,  Marcia  procured 

*  dvfJpof  IdiuTov  Kal  alaxpoi^^P^ovg.  "  awecpov  tuv  kKKlijaiaafiKuv  opuv. 

'  "  Philospphumena,"  book  ix.  Dr.  Dollinger,  in  a  recent  work  ("  Hippo- 
lytus and  Callistus,  or  the  Church  of  Rome  in  the  first  half  of  the  Third 
Century  "),  maintains  that  Hippolytus  was  an  anti-Pope  set  up  in  opposi- 
tion to  Callistus.  He  admits,  however,  the  genuineness  of  the  "  Philosophu- 
mena."  He  contends  that  Portus  was  not  a  bishopric  in  the  time  of  Hippoly- 
tus ;  but  he  has  certainly  failed  to  establish  that  point. 


3l6  ZEPHYRINUS   AND   CALLISTUS. 

from  the  Emperor  Commodus  an  order  for  the  release  of  the 
Christians  banished  to  that  unhealthy  island  ;  and  Callistus, 
though  not  included  in  the  act  of  grace,  contrived  to  prevail 
upon  the  governor  to  set  him  at  liberty  along  with  the  other 
prisoners.  He  now  returned  to  Rome,  where  he  acquired  the 
reputation  of  a  changed  character.  In  due  time  he  procured 
an  appointment  to  one  of  the  lower  ecclesiastical  offices  ;  and 
as  he  possessed  much  talent,  he  did  not  find  it  difficult  to  ob- 
tain promotion.  When  Zephyrinus  was  advanced  to  the  episco- 
pate, Callistus,  his  special  favorite,  became  one  of  the  leading 
ministers  of  the  Roman  Church ;  and  exercised  an  almost 
unbounded  sway  over  the  mind  of  the  superficial  and  time- 
serving bishop.  The  Christians  of  the  chief  city  were  split  up 
into  parties,  some  advocating  the  orthodox  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  and  others  abetting  a  different  theory.  Callistus  dex- 
terously availed  himself  of  their  divisions  ;  and,  by  inducing 
each  faction  to  believe  that  he  espoused  its  cause,  managed, 
on  the  death  of  Zephyrinus,  to  secure  his  election  to  the 
vacant  dignity. 

When  Callistus  had  attained  the  object  of  his  ambition,  he 
tried  to  restore  peace  to  the  Church  by  endeavoring  to  per- 
suade the  advocates  of  the  antagonistic  principles  to  make 
mutual  concessions.  Laying  aside  the  reserve  which  he  had 
hitherto  maintained,  he  now  took  up  an  intermediate  position, 
in  the  hope  that  both  parties  would  accept  his  own  theory  of 
the  Godhead.  "  He  invented,"  says  Hippolytus,  "  such  a 
heresy  as  follows.  He  said  that  the  Word  is  the  Son  and  is . 
also  the  Father,  being  called  by  different  names,  but  being  one 
indivisible  spirit ;  and  that  the  Father  is  not  one  and  the  Son 
another  (person),  but  that  they  both  are  one  and  the  same. 
....  The  Father,  having  taken  human  flesh,  deified  it  by 
uniting  it  to  Himself,  ....  and  so  he  said  that  the  Father 
had  suffered  with  the  Son."' 

Though  Callistus,  as  well  as  Hippolytus,  is  recognized  as  a 
saint  in  the  Romish  Breviary,"  it  is  thus  certain  that  the  bishop 
of  Portus  regarded  the  bishop  of  Rome  as  a  schemer  and  a 
heretic.     At  this  period,  all  bishops  were  on  a  level  of  equal- 

'  "  Philosophumena,"  book  ix.  '  14th  October. 


CALLISTUS.  317 

ity,  for  Hippolytus,  though  the  pastor  of  a  town  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  chief  city,  did  not  acknowledge  Callistus  as 
his  metropoHtan.  The  bishop  of  Portus  describes  himself  as 
one  of  those  who  are  "  successors  of  the  apostles,  partakers 
with  them  of  the  same  grace  both  of  principal  priesthood  and 
doctorship,  and  reckoned  among  the  guardians  of  the  Church." ' 
Hippolytus  testifies  that  Callistus  was  afraid  of  him,"  and  if 
both  were  members  of  the  same  synod,'  well  might  the  hetero- 
dox prelate  stand  in  awe  of  a  minister  who  possessed  co-ordi- 
nate authority,  with  greater  honesty  and  superior  erudition. 
But  still,  it  is  plain,  from  the  admissions  of  the  ^'  Philoso- 
phumea,"  that  the  bishop  of  Rome,  in  the  time  of  the  author 
of  this  treatise,  was  beginning  to  presume  upon  his  position. 
Hippolytus  complains  of  his  irregularity  in  receiving  into  his 
communion  some  who  had  been  "  cast  out  of  the  Church  "  of 
Portus  "after  judicial  sentence."*  Had  the  bishop  of  the 
harbor  of  Rome  been  subject  to  the  bishop  of  the  capital,  he 
would  neither  have  expressed  himself  in  such  a  style,  nor  pre- 
ferred such  an  accusation. 

Various  circumstances  indicate,  as  has  already  been  sug- 
gested, that  the  bishop  of  Rome,  in  the  time  of  the  Anto- 
nines,  was  chosen  by  lot  ;  but  we  infer  from  the  "  Philo- 
sophumena"  that,  early  in  the  third  century,  another  mode 
of  appointment  had  been  adopted.*  He  now  owed  his  advance- 
ment to  the  suffrages  of  the  Church  members,  for  Hippolytus 
hints  very  broadly  that  Callistus  pursued  a  particular  course 
with  a  view  to  promote  his  popularity  and  secure  his  election. 

'  "  Philosophumena,"  book  i.,  prooemium.  ^  Seihiicut;  ifiL 

'  Bunsen  describes  Hippolytus  as  "  a  member  of  the  Roman  presbytery" 
("  Hippolytus,"  i.  313),  but  he  is  here  evidently  mistaken.  Hippolytus  was 
at  the  head  of  a  presbytery  of  his  own,  the  presbytery  of  Portus.  The 
presbytery  of  Rome  was  confined  to  the  elders  or  presbyters  of  that  city. 
The  presbyter  Hippolytus  mentioned  by  some  ancient  writers  was  a  quite 
different  person  from  the  bishop  of  Portus. 

*  "  Philosophumena,"  book  ix. 

*  It  is  probable  that  the  bishop  was  at  first  chosen  by  lot  out  of  a  leet  of 
three  selected  by  the  presbytery  from  among  its  members.  (See  preceding 
chapter,  p.  303,  note).  An  appointment  was  now  made  out  of  this  leet  of 
three,  not  by  lot,  but  by  popular  suffrage. 


3l8  FABIAN. 

About  A.D.  236,  Fabian  was  chosen  bishop  of  Rome  by  the 
votes  of  the  whole  brotherhood,  and  there  is  on  record  a 
minute  account  of  certain  extraordinary  circumstances  which 
signalized  the  occasion.  "When  all  the  brethren  had  assem- 
bled in  the  church  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  their  future 
bishop,  and  when  the  names  of  many  worthy  and  distinguished 
men  had  suggested  themselves  to  the  consideration  of  the 
multitude,  no  one  so  much  as  thought  of  Fabian,  who  was  then 
present.  They  relate,  however,  that  a  dove  gliding  down  from 
the  roof,  settled  directly  on  his  head,  as  when  the  Holy  Spirit, 
like  a  dove,  rested  upon  the  head  of  our  Saviour.  On  this, 
the  whole  people,  as  if  animated  by  one  divine  impulse,  with 
great  eagerness,  and  with  the  utmost  unanimity,  exclaimed 
that  he  was  worthy;  and,  taking  hold  of  him,  placed  him 
forthwith  on  the  bishop's  chair."  ' 

Some  time  after  the  resurrection  of  the  statue  of  Hippo- 
lytus,  another  revelation  was  made  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Rome  which  has  thrown  much  light  upon  its  early  ecclesi- 
astical history.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
the  unusual  appearance  of  some  apertures  in  the  ground,"  not 
far  from  the  Papal  capital,  awakened  curiosity,  and  led  to  the 
discovery  of  dark  subterranean  passages  of  immense  extent 
filled  with  monuments  and  inscriptions.  These  dismal  regions, 
after  having  been  shut  up  for  about  eight  hundred  years,  were 
then  reopened  and  re-explored. 

The  soil  for  miles  around  Rome  is  undermined,  and  the 
long  labyrinths  thus  created  are  called  catacombs."  The  gal- 
leries are  often  found  in  stories  two  or  three  deep,  communi- 
cating with  each  other  by  stairs ;  and  formerly  some  of  them 
were  partially  lighted  from  above.  They  were  originally  gravel- 
pits  or  stone-quarries,  and  were  commenced  long  before  the 
reign  of  Augustus.*     The  enlargement  of  the  city,  and  the 

'  Euseb.  vi.  29. 

"^  These  apertures  were  revealed  by  the  accidental  falling  in  of  a  portion 
of  the  high-road  outside  the  Porta  Salara  in  the  year  1 578.    Norfhcote,  p.  32. 

'  Evidently  from  Karh,  down,  and  xriii^'K,  a  cavity.  Mr.  Northcote  calcu- 
lates that  the  streets,  taken  together,  are  900  miles  long  ! 

*  See  "  Three  Introductory  Lectures  on  Ecclesiastical  History,"  by  Wm. 
Lee,  D.D.,  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  p.  27. 


THE  CATACOMBS.  319 

growing  demand  for  building  materials,  led  them  to  new  and 
most  extensive  excavations.  In  the  preparation  of  these  vast 
caverns,  we  may  trace  the  presiding  care  of  Providence.  As 
America,  discovered  a  few  years  before  the  Reformation,  fur- 
nished a  place  of  refuge  to  the  Protestants  who  fled  from 
ecclesiastical  intolerance,  so  the.  catacombs,  reopened  shortly 
before  the  birth  of  our  Lord,  supplied  shelter  to  the  Christians 
in  Rome  during  the  frequent  proscriptions  of  the  second  and 
third  centuries.  When  the  Gospel  was  first  propagated  in  the 
imperial  city,  its  adherents  belonged  chiefly  to  the  lower 
classes ;  and,  for  reasons  of  which  it  is  now  impossible  to  speak 
with  certainty,'  it  was  soon  very  generally  embraced  by  the 
quarrymen  and  sand-diggers.''  Thus  it  was  that  when  perse- 
cution raged  in  the  capital,  the  Christian  felt  himself  com- 
paratively safe  in  the  catacombs.  The  parties  in  charge  of 
them  were  his  friends ;  they  gave  him  seasonable  intimation 
of  the  approach  of  danger ;  and  among  these  "  dens  and 
caves  of  the  earth,"  with  countless  places  of  ingress  and 
egress,  the  ofificers  of  government  attempted  in  vain  to  over- 
take a  fugitive. 

At  present  their  appearance  is  most  uncomfortable ;  they 
contain  no  chamber  sufficient  for  the  accommodation  of  any 
large  number  of  worshippers  ;  and  it  has  even  been  questioned 
whether  human  life  could  be  long  supported  in  such  gloomy 
habitations.  But  we  have  the  best  authority  for  believing  that 
some  of  the  early  Christians  remained  for  a  considerable  time 
in  these  asylums.'    Wells  of  water  have  been  found  in  their  ob- 

'  It  is  probable  that  many  were  condemned  to  labor  in  these  mines  as  a 
punishment  for  having  embraced  Christianity.  See  Lee's  "Three  Lect- 
ures," p.  28. 

-  Maitland's  "  Church  in  the  Catacombs,"  p.  24.  Dr.  Maitland  visited 
Rome  in  1841,  but  his  inspection  of  the  Lapidarian  Gallery  was  regarded 
with  extreme  jealousy  by  the  authorities  there.  After  having  obtained  a 
license  "  to  make  some  memoranda  in  drawing  in  that  part  of  the  Museum," 
he  was  officially  informed  that  "  his  permission  did  not  extend  to  the  in- 
scriptions," and  the  communication  was  accompanied  by  a  demand  that 
"  the  copies  already  made  should  be  given  up."  To  his  refusal  to  yield  to 
this  mandate  we  are  indebted  for  many  important  memorials  to  be  found  in 
his  interesting  volume. 

^  See  Maitland,  pp.  27-29. 


320  THE   CATACOMBS. 

scure  recesses ;  fonts  for  baptism  have  also  been  discovered ; 
and  it  is  beyond  doubt  that  the  disciples  met  here  for  religious 
exercises.  As  early  as  the  second  century  these  vaults  became 
the  great  cemetery  of  the  Church.  Many  of  the  memorials  of 
the  dead  which  they  contained  have  long  since  been  transferred 
to  the  Lapidarian  Gallery  in  the  Vatican ;  and  there,  in  the 
palace  of  the  Pope,  the  venerable  tombstones  testify,  to  all 
who  will  consult  them,  how  much  modern  Romanism  differs 
from  ancient  Christianity. 

Though  many  of  these  sepulchral  monuments  were  erected 
in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  they  indicate  a  remarkable 
freedom  from  superstitions  with  which  the  religion  of  the  New 
Testament  has  been  since  defiled.  These  witnesses  to  the  faith 
of  the  early  Church  of  Rome  altogether  repudiate  the  worship 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  for  the  inscriptions  of  the  Lapidarian  Gal- 
lery, all  arranged  under  the  Papal  supervision,  contain  no  ad- 
dresses to  the  mother  of  our  Lord.'  They  point  only  to  Jesus 
as  the  great  Mediator,  Redeemer,  and  Friend.  It  is  also  worthy 
of  note  that  the  tone  of  these  voices  from  the  grave  is  emi- 
nently cheerful.  Instead  of  speaking  of  masses  for  the  repose 
of  souls,  or  representing  departed  believers  as  still  doomed  to 
pass  through  purgatory,  they  describe  the  deceased  as  having 
entered  immediately  into  the  abodes  of  eternal  rest.  "  Alex- 
ander," says  one  of  them,  "  is  not  dead,  but  lives  beyond  the 
stars,  and  his  body  rests  in  this  tomb."  "  Here,"  says  another, 
"  lies  Paulina,  in  the  place  of  the  blessed."  "  Gemella,"  says  a 
third,  "sleeps  in  peace."  "  Aselus,"  says  a  fourth,  "  sleeps  in 
Christ."' 

We  learn  from  the  testimony  of  Hippolytus  that,  during  the 
episcopate  of  Zcphyrinus,Callistus  was  "set  over  the  cemetery."* 
This  was  considered  a  highly  important  trust,  as,  in  those  peril- 

'  Maitland,  p.  14. 

'  Maitland,  pp.  33,41,  43,  170.  Perhaps  the  earliest  specimen  of  anything 
like  the  invocation  of  saints  found  among  these  inscriptions  is  an  epitaph 
written  by  Damasus,  who  was  elected  Bishop  of  Rome  a.d.  366.  Poetical 
license  may  permit  an  apostrophe  to  the  dead  on  a  tombstone.  See  North- 
cote,  p.  187. 

'  "  Philosophumena,"  book  ix. 


THE   CATACOMBS.  321 

ous  times,  the  safety  of  the  Christians  very  much  depended  on 
the  prudence,  activity,  and  courage  of  the  individual  who  had 
charge  of  their  subterranean  refuge.'  The  new  curator  signal- 
ized himself  by  the  ability  with  which  he  discharged  the  duties 
of  his  appointment ;  he  embellished  and  enlarged  some  of  these 
dreary  caves ;  and  hence  a  portion  of  the  catacombs  was  desig- 
nated "  The  Cemetery  of  Callistus."  Hippolytus,  led  astray  by 
the  ascetic  spirit  beginning  so  strongly  to  prevail  in  the  com- 
mencement of  the  third  century,  was  opposed  to  all  second 
marriages,  so  that  he  was  sadly  scandalized  by  the  exceedingly 
liberal  views  of  his  Roman  brother  on  the  subject  of  matri- 
mony;  and  he  was  so  ill-informed  as  to  pronounce  them  novel. 
"  In  his  time,"  says  he  indignantly,  "  bishops,  presbyters,  and 
deacons,  though  they  had  been  twice  or  three  times  married, 
began  to  be  recognized  as  God's  ministers ;  and  if  any  one  of 
the  clergy  married,  it  was  determined  that  such  a  person  should 
remain  among  the  clergy,  as  not  having  sinned." "  We  can  not 
tell  how  many  of  the  ancient  bishops  of  the  great  city  were 
husbands  ;  ^  we  have  certainly  no  distinct  evidence  that  even 
Callistus  took  to  himself  a  wife ;  but  the  primitive  Church  of 
Rome  did  not  impose  celibacy  on  her  ministers ;  and  in  sup- 
port of  this  fact,  we  can  produce  the  unimpeachable  testimony 
of  her  own  catacombs.  There  is,  for  instance,  a  monument 
"To  Basilus  the  Presbyter,  and  Felicitas  his  wife";  and,  on 
another  tombstone,  erected  about  A.D.  472,  or  only  four  years 

'  As  Carthage  now  furnished  Rome  with  marble  and  granite,  the  quarry- 
men  and  sand-diggers  of  the  catacombs  came  frequently  into  contact  with 
the  Carthaginian  sailors  ;  and  we  may  thus  see  how,  in  the  time  of  Cyprian, 
there  were  such  facilities  for  epistolary  intercourse  between  the  Churches  of 
Rome  and  Carthage.  Under  favorable  circumstances,  the  mariner  accom- 
plished the  voyage  between  the  two  ports  in  two  or  three  days. 

'^  "Philosophumena,"  book  ix.  TertuUian  corroborates  the  charges  of 
Hippolytus.     See  "  Ue  Pudicitia,"  cap  i. 

'  We  know,  however,  that,  long  after  this  period,  married  bishops  were 
to  be  found  almost  everywhere.  One  of  the  most  eminent  martyrs  in  the 
Diocletian  persecution  was  a  bishop  who  had  a  wife  and  children.  See 
Eusebius,  viii.  c.  9.  Clemens  Romanus,  reputed  one  of  the  early  bishops  of 
the  Western  capital,  speaks  as  a  married  man.  See  his  "  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,"  §21. 
21 


322  ROMAN   BISHOPS    MARTYRED. 

before  the  fall  of  the  Western  Empire,  there  is  the  following 
singular  record :  "  Petronia,  a  deacon's  wife,  the  type  of  mod- 
esty. In  this  place  I  lay  my  bones  ;  spare  your  tears,  dear  hus- 
band and  daughters,  and  believe  that  it  is  forbidden  to  weep 
for  one  who  lives  in  God." '  "  Here,"  says  another  epitaph, 
"  Susanna,  the  happy  daughter  of  the  late  Presbyter  Gabinus, 
lies  in  peace  along  with  her  father.""  In  the  Lapidarian  Gal- 
lery of  the  Papal  palace,  the  curious  visitor  may  still  read  other 
epitaphs  of  the  married  ministers  of  Rome. 

Though  the  Gospel  continued  to  make  great  progress  in  the 
metropolis,  there  was  no  city  of  the  Empire  in  which  it  en- 
countered, from  the  very  first,  such  steady  and  powerful  oppo- 
sition. The  Sovereign,  being  himself  the  Supreme  Pontiff  of 
Paganism,  was  expected  to  resent,  as  a  personal  indignity,  any 
attempt  to  weaken  its  influence;  and  the  other  great  function- 
aries of  idolatry,  who  all  resided  in  the  capital,  were  bound  by 
the  ties  of  ofifilce  to  resist  the  advancement  of  Christianity. 
The  old  aristocracy  disliked  everything  in  the  shape  of  relig- 
ious innovation,  for  they  believed  that  the  glory  of  their  coun- 
try was  inseparably  connected  with  an  adherence  to  the  wor- 
ship of  the  gods  of  their  ancestors.  Thus  it  was  that  the  in- 
tolerance of  the  State  was  always  felt  with  peculiar  severity  at 
the  seat  of  government.  Exactly  in  the  middle  of  the  third 
century  a  persecution  of  unusual  violence  burst  upon  the  Ro- 
man Church.  Fabian,  whose  appointment  to  the  bishopric 
took  place,  as  already  related,  under  such  extraordinary  circum- 
stances, soon  fell  a  victim  to  the  storm.  After  his  martyrdom, 
the  whole  community  over  which  he  presided  was  paralyzed 
with  terror ;  and  sixteen  months  passed  away  before  any  suc- 
cessor was  elected ;  for  Decius,  the  tyrant  who  ruled  the  Ro- 
man world,  had  proclaimed  his  determination  rather  to  suffer 
a  competitor  for  his  throne  than  a  bishop  for  his  chief  city.' 
A  veritable  rival  was  quickly  forthcoming  to  prove  the  false- 
hood of  his  gasconade;  for  when  Julius  Valcns  disputed  his 

'  Maitland,  pp.  191-193.  These  inscriptions  may  be  found  also  in  Ar- 
inghi,  i.  421,  419. 

Aringhi.  i  .  p.  288;  Rome,  1651. 
^  Cyprian  to  Antonianus,  Epist.  lii.,  p.  151. 


STATISTICS   OF   THE    ROMAN   CHURCH.  323 

title  to  the  Empire,  Decius  was  obliged,  by  the  pressure  of 
weightier  cares,  to  withdraw  his  attention  from  the  concerns 
of  the  Roman  Christians.  During  the  lull  in  the  storm  of 
persecution,  Cornelius  was  chosen  bishop  ;  but  after  an  official 
life  of  little  more  than  a  year,  he  was  thrown  into  confinement. 
His  death  in  prison  was  occasioned  by  harsh  treatment.  The 
episcopate  of  his  successor,  Lucius,  was  even  shorter  than  his 
own,  for  he  was  martyred  about  six  months  after  his  election.' 
Stephen,  who  was  now  promoted  to  the  vacant  chair,  did  not 
long  retain  possession  of  it ;  for  though  we  have  no  reliable  in- 
formation as  to  the  manner  of  his  death,  it  is  certain  that  he 
occupied  the  bishopric  only  between  four  and  five  years.  His 
successor,  Xystus,  in  less  than  twelve  months  finished  his  course 
by  martyrdom.*  Thus,  in  a  period  of  eight  years,  Rome  lost 
no  less  than  five  bishops,  at  least  four  of  whom  were  cut  down 
by  persecution  ;  of  these,  Cornelius  and  Stephen,  by  far  the 
most  distinguished,  were  interred  in  the  cemetery  of  Callistus. 
There  is  still  extant  the  fragment  of  a  letter  written  by  Cor- 
nelius, furnishing  a  curious  statistical  account  of  the  strength 
of  the  Roman  Church  at  this  period.^  According  to  this  ex- 
cellent authority  it  contained  forty-six  presbyters,  seven  dea- 
cons, seven  sub-deacons,  forty-two  acolyths,  fifty-two  others 
who  were  either  exorcists,  readers,  or  door-keepers,  and  up- 
wards of  fifteen  hundred  besides,  who  were  in  indigent  cir- 
cumstances, and  of  whom  widows  constituted  a  large  pro- 
portion. All  these  poor  persons  were  maintained  by  the  lib- 
erality of  their  fellow-worshippers.  Rome,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  the  birth-place  of  prelacy ;  and  other  ecclesiastical  organ- 
isms unknown  to  the  New  Testament  may  also  be  traced  to 
the  same  locality  for  here  we  read  for  the  first  time  of  such 
officials  as  the  acolyths.'     We  may  infer  from  the  details  sup- 

'  C>-prian  speaks  of  "  the  blessed  Martyrs,  Cornelius  and  Lucius."  Epist. 
Ixvii.  p.  250. 

^  See  Cyprian's  "  Epistle  to  Successus,"  where  it  is  stated  that  "  Xystus 
was  martyred  in  the  cemetery  [the  catacombs]  on  the  eighth  of  the  Ides  of 
August,  and  with  him  four  deacons." 

^  This  fragment  may  be  found  in  Euseb.  vi.  43. 

*  For  an  account  of  their  duties  see  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap.  x. 


324  SCHISM    OF   NOVATIAN. 

plied  by  the  letter  of  Cornelius,  that  there  were  now  fourteen 
congregations '  of  the  faithful  in  the  great  city  ;  and  its  Chris- 
tian population  has  been  estimated  at  fifty  thousand.  No 
wonder  that  the  chief  pastor  of  such  a  multitude  of  zealous 
disciples,  all  residing  in  his  capital,  awakened  the  jealousy  of  a 
suspicious  Emperor. 

A  schism,  which  continued  for  generations  to  exert  an  un- 
happy influence,  commenced  in  the  metropolis  during  the 
short  episcopate  of  Cornelius.  The  leader  of  this  secession 
was  Novatian,  a  man  of  blameless  character,"  and  a  presbyter 
of  the  Roman  Church.  In  the  Decian  persecution  many  had 
been  terrified  into  temporary  conformity  to  paganism  ;  and 
this  austere  ecclesiastic  maintained  that  persons  who  had  so 
sadly  compromised  themselves,  were,  on  no  account  whatever, 
to  be  readmitted  to  communion.  When  he  found  that  he 
could  not  prevail  on  his  brethren  to  adopt  this  unrelenting 
discipline,  he  permitted  himself  to  be  ordained  bishop  in  op- 
position to  Cornelius,  and  became  the  founder  of  a  separate 
society,  known  as  the  sect  of  the  Novatians.  As  he  denied 
the  validity  of  the  ordinance  previously  administered,  he  re- 
baptized  his  converts,  and  exhibited  otherwise  a  miserably 
contracted  spirit ;  but  many  sympathized  with  him  in  his 
views,  and  Novatian  bishops  were  soon  established  in  various 
parts  of  the  Empire. 

Immediately  after  the  rise  of  this  sect,  a  controversy  relative 
to  the  propriety  of  rebaptizing  heretics  brought  the  Church  of 

'  According  to  some  manuscripts,  there  were,  not  forty-six,  but  forty-two 
presbyters,  seven  deacons,  seven  sub-deacons,  and  forty-two  acolyths.  At  a 
later  period,  we  find  three  presbyters  connected  with  each  Roman  church. 
There  were  fourteen  regions  in  the  city,  and  supposing  a  congregation  in 
each,  there  were  now  three  presbyters,  one  deacon  or  sub-deacon,  and  three 
acolyths  belonging  to  each  church.  See  Blondel's  "  Apologia,"  p.  224.  Mr. 
Cooper  ("  Free  Church  of  Ancient  Christendom,"  p.  293,  note,  2d  edit.)  has 
remarked  that,  according  to  the  Martyrium  Novatiani,  there  were  on\y  nine 
presbyters  at  Rome  about  a  year  before  the  date  of  the  letter  of  Cornelius, 
and  conjectures  that  the  clerical  ranks  had  meanwhile  been  largely  recruited 
from  the  confessors. 

*  Cornelius  (Euseb.  vi.  43)  calls  him  "  a  malicious  beast,"  but  he  writes 
under  a  feeling  of  deep  mortification. 


THE   CHURCH   ON   THE   ROCK.  325 

Rome  into  collision  with  many  Christian  communities  in 
Africa  and  Asia  Minor.  The  discussion,  which  did  not  event- 
uate in  any  fresh  schism,  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  firm 
stand  now  made  against  the  assumptions  of  the  great  Bishop  of 
the  West.  When  Stephen,  who  was  opposed  to  rebaptism, 
discovered  that  he  could  not  induce  the  Asiatics  and  Africans 
to  come  over  to  his  sentiments,  he  rashly  tried  to  overbear  them 
by  declaring  that  he  would  shut  them  out  from  his  com- 
munion ;  but  his  antagonists  treated  the  threat  merely  as  an 
empty  display  of  insolence.  "  What  strife  and  contention 
hast  thou  awakened  in  the  Churches  of  the  whole  world,  O 
Stephen,"  said  one  of  his  opponents,  "and  how  great  sin  hast 
thou  accumulated  when  thou  didst  cut  thyself  off  from  so  many 
flocks  !  Deceive  not  thyself,  for  he  is  truly  the  schismatic 
who  has  made  himself  an  apostate  from  the  communion  of  the 
unity  of  the  Church.  For  whilst  thou  thinkest  that  all  may 
be  excommunicated  by  thee,  thou  hast  excommunicated  thy- 
self alone  from  all."  ' 

When  the  apostle  of  the  circumcision  said  to  his  Master — 
"  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God,"  Jesus  re- 
plied, "  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-jona,  for  flesh  and  blood 
hath  not  revealed  it  Jinto  thee,  bnt  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven'' 
To  this  emphatic  acknowledgment  of  the  faith  of  His  dis- 
ciple our  Lord  added  the  memorable  words,  "And  I  say  also 
unto  thee,  that  thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build 
my  church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it."  "^ 
As  the  word  Peter  signifies  a  stone^  this  address  admits  of  a 
very  obvious  and  satisfactory  exposition.  "  Thou  art,"  said 
Christ  to  the  apostle,  "a  lively  stone*  of  the  spiritual  struct- 
ure I  erect ;  and  upon  this  rock  on  which  thy  faith  is  estab- 
lished, as  witnessed  by  thy  good  confession,  I  will  build  my 
Church  ;  and  though  the  rains  of  affliction  may  descend,  and 

'  Firmilian,  "  Cypriani  Epistolce,"  Ixxv.  *  Matt.  xvi.  16-18. 

'  John  i.  42. 

*  See  I  Peter  ii.  5.  Peter  adds,  as  if  to  illustrate  Matt  xvi.  18 — "  Where- 
fore also  it  is  contained  in  the  Scripture,  Behold  I  lay  in  Zion  a  chief  cor- 
ner stone,  elect,  precious;  and  he  that  believeth  on  him  shall  not  be  con- 
founded. "     I  Pet.  ii.  6. 


326  THE   CHURCH   BUILT   ON   PETER. 

the  floods  of  danger  may  come,  and  the  winds  of  temptation 
may  blow,  and  beat  upon  this  house,  it  shall  remain  immov- 
able,' because  it  rests  upon  an  impregnable  foundation."  But 
a  different  interpretation  was  already  gaining  wide  currency ; 
for  though  Peter  had  been  led  to  deny  Christ  with  oaths  and 
imprecations,  the  rapid  growth  and  preponderating  wealth  of 
the  Roman  bishopric,  of  which  the  apostle  was  said  to  be  the 
founder,  had  now  induced  many  to  believe  that  he  was  the 
Rock  of  Salvation,  the  enduring  basis  on  which  the  living  temple 
of  God  was  to  be  reared  !  Tertullian  and  Cyprian,  in  the  third 
century  the  two  most  eminent  fathers  of  the  West,  counte- 
nanced the  exposition ; '  and  though  both  these  writers  were 
lamentably  deficient  in  critical  sagacity,  men  of  inferior  stand- 
ing were  slow  to  impugn  the  verdict  of  such  champions  of  the 
faith.  Thus  it  was  that  a  false  gloss  of  Scripture  was  already 
enthralling  the  mind  of  Christendom ;  and  Stephen  boldly  re- 
newed the  attempt  at  domination  commenced  by  his  prede- 
cessor, Victor.  His  opponents  deserved  far  greater  credit  for 
the  sturdy  independence  with  which  they  upheld  their  indi- 
vidual rights  than  for  the  scriptural  skill  with  which  they  un- 
masked the  sophistry  of  a  delusive  theory ;  for  all  their  reason- 
ings were  enervated  and  vitiated  by  their  stupid  admission  of 
the  claims  of  the  chair  of  Peter  as  the  rock  on  which  the  Church 
was  supposed  to  rest.'  This  second  effort  of  Rome  to  establish 
her  ascendency  was,  indeed,  a  failure  ;  but  the  misinterpreta- 
tion of  Holy  Writ,  by  which  it  was  encouraged,  was  not  ef- 
fectively corrected  and  exposed ;  and  thus  the  great  Western 

'  Matt.  vii.  24,  25. 

"  See  Tertullian,  "  De  Praescrip."  xxii.  ;  and  Cyprian  to  Cornelius,  Epist. 
Iv..  p.  178,  where  he  says,  "  Petrus,  tamen,  super  quern  aedificata  ab  eodem 
Domino  fuerat  ecclesia."  See  also  the  same  epistle,  pp.  182,  183,  and  many 
other  passages. 

«  Thus  Cyprian  in  his  letter  to  Quintus  (Epist.  Ixxi.,  p.  273)  makes  the  fol- 
lowing awkward  attempt  to  get  over  the  difficulty  :  "  Nam  nee  Petrus, 
quevt  primiim  Dominus  elcgtf,  et  super  quern  cedificavit  ecclesiam  suam 
cum  secum  Paulus  de  circumcisione  postmodum  disceptaret,  vindicavit  sibi 
aliquid  insolenter  aut  arroganter  assumpsit,  ut  diceret  se primatum  ienere  et 
9btemperari  a  novellis  et  poster  is  sibi  pot  t  us  oportere." 


POWER   OF  THE   ROMAN   BISHOP.  327 

prelate  was  left  at  liberty,  at  another  more  favorable  opportu- 
nity, to  wrest  the  Scriptures  to  the  destruction  of  the  Church. 

From  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  the  authority  of  the 
Roman  bishops  advanced  apace.  The  magnanimity  with 
which  so  many  of  them  then  encountered  martyrdom  elicited 
general  admiration  ;  and  the  divisions  caused  by  the  schism  of 
Novatian  supplied  them  with  a  specious  apology  for  enlarg- 
ing their  jurisdiction.  The  argument  from  the  necessity  of 
unity,  urged  so  successfully  for  the  creation  of  a  bishop  up- 
wards of  a  hundred  years  before,  could  now  be  adduced  with 
equal  plausibility  for  the  erection  of  a  metropolitan  ;  and,  from 
this  date,  these  prelates  exercised  archiepiscopal  power.  Sev- 
enty years  afterward,  or  at  the  Council  of  Nice,'  the  ecclesias- 
tical rule  of  the  Primate  of  Rome  was  recognized  by  the 
bishops  of  the  ten  suburbicarian  provinces,  including  no  small 
portion  of  Italy .* 

For  the  last  forty  years  of  the  third  century  the  Church 
was  free  from  persecution,  and,  during  this  long  period  of 
repose,  the  great  Western  see  enjoyed  an  unwonted  measure 
of  outward  prosperity.  Its  religious  services  were  conducted 
with  increasing  splendor,  and  distressed  brethren  in  very  dis- 
tant countries  shared  the  fruits  of  its  munificence.'  In  the 
reign  of  Gallienus,  when  the  Goths  burst  into  the  Empire  and 
devastated  Asia  Minor,  the  bishop  of  Rome  transmitted  a 
large  sum  of  money  for  the  release  of  the  Christians  who  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  barbarians.*  A  few  years  after- 
ward, when  Paul  of  Samosata  was  deposed  for  heresy,  and 
when,  on  his  refusal  to  surrender  the  property  of  the  Church 
of  Antioch,  an  application  was  made  to  the  Emperor  Aure- 
lian  for  his  interference,  that  prince  submitted  the  matter  in 
dispute  to  the  decision  of  Dionysius  of  Rome  and  the  other 

'  A.D.  325. 

^  The  Suburbicarian  Provinces  comprehended  the  three  islands  of  Sicily, 
Corsica,  and  Sardinia,  and  the  whole  of  the  southern  part  of  Italy,  includ- 
ing Naples  and  nearly  all  the  territory  now  belonging  to  Tuscany  and  the 
States  of  the  Church.     See  Bingham,  iii.  p.  20. 

'"  In  A.D.  254,  the  bishop  of  Rome  sent  assistance  to  Christians  in  Syria 
and  Arabia.     See  Euseb.  vii.  5. 

*  Basil,  Ep.  220. 


328  EARLY   ROMAN   BISHOPS. 

bishops  of  Italy.'  This  reference,  in  which  the  position  of 
the  Roman  prelate  was  publicly  recognized,  perhaps  for  the 
first  time,  by  a  Roman  Emperor,  added  vastly  to  the  impor- 
tance of  the  metropolitan  see  in  public  estimation.  Christian- 
ity in  the  following  century  became  the  religion  of  the  State, 
and  the  bishop  of  the  chief  city  was  thus  prepared  for  the 
high  position  to  which  he  was  suddenly  promoted. 

None  of  the  early  bishops  of  Rome  were  distinguished  for 
their  mental  accomplishments  ;  and  though  they  are  com- 
monly reputed  the  founders  of  the  Latin  Church,  it  is  well 
known  that,  for  nearly  two  hundred  years,  they  all  wrote  and 
spoke  the  Greek  language.  The  name  Pope,  which  they  have 
since  appropriated,  was  originally  common  to  all  pastors.' 
For  the  first  three  centuries  almost  every  question  relating  to 
them  is  involved  in  much  mystery  ;  and,  as  we  approach  the 
close  of  this  period,  the  difficulty  of  unravelling  their  per- 
plexed  traditions  rather  increases  than  diminishes.  Even  the 
existence  of  some  who  are  said  to  have  now  flourished  has 
been  considered  doubtful.'  It  is  alleged  that  the  see  was 
vacant  for  upwards  of  three  years  and  a  half  during  the  Dio- 
cletian persecution  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  ;* 
but  even  this  point  has  not  been  very  clearly  ascertained. 
The  Roman  bishopric  was  by  far  the  most  important  in  the 
Church ;  and  the  obscurity  which  overhangs  its  early  history 
can  not  but  be  embarrassing  to  those  who  seek  to  establish  a 
title  to  the  ministry  by  attempting  to  trace  it  up  through  such 
dark  annals. 

On  looking  back  over  the  first  three  centuries,  we  may  re- 
mark how  much  the  ciiairman  of  the  Roman  eldership,  at  the 
time  of  the  death  of  the  Apostle  John,  differed  from  the  prel- 

'  Euseb.  vii.  50. 

''  Thus  we  read  of  "  the  blessed  Pope  Cyprian,"  bishop  of  Carthaj^e. 
Cyprian,  Epist.  ii.,  p.  25,  The  name  was  soniLtimes  given  to  the  head  of  a 
monastery.  In  the  Catacombs  there  was  found  an  inscription  probably  to 
the  memory  of  a  Pope  of  this  description.  See  Maitland,  p.  185.  See  also 
Roulh's  "  Reliquiae,"  iii.  pp.  256,  265. 

'  See  Bovver,  "  Marcellus,"  29th  Bishop. 

*  That  is,  from  the  autumn  of  A.D.  304  to  the  spring  of  A.D.  308.  See 
Burton's  "  Lectures  on  the  Ecc.  Hist,  of  the  First  Three  Cent."  ii.  p.  433. 


RISE   OF  THE   PAPACY.  329 

ate  who  filled  his  place  two  hundred  years  afterward.  The 
former  was  the  servant  of  the  presbyters,  and  appointed  to 
carry  out  their  decisions  ;  the  latter  was  tfieir  master,  and 
entitled  to  require  their  submission.  The  former  presided 
over  the  ministers  of,  perhaps,  three  or  four  comparatively 
poor  congregations  dispirited  by  recent  persecution ;  the  lat- 
ter had  the  charge  of  at  least  five-and-twenty  flourishing  city 
churches,'  together  with  all  the  bishops  in  all  the  surrounding 
territory.  In  eventful  times  an  individual  of  transcendent 
talent,  such  as  Pepin  or  Napoleon,  has  adroitly  vaulted  into  a 
throne  ;  but  the  bishop  of  Rome  was  indebted  for  his  gradual 
elevation  and  his  ultimate  ascendency  neither  to  extraordi- 
nary genius  nor  superior  erudition,  but  to  a  combination  of  cir- 
cumstances of  unprecedented  rarity.  His  position  furnished 
him  with  peculiar  facilities  for  acquiring  influence.  Whilst 
the  city  in  which  he  was  located  was  the  largest  in  the  world, 
it  was  also  the  most. opulent  and  the  most  powerful.  He  was 
continually  coming  in  contact  with  men  of  note  in  the  Church 
from  all  parts  of  the  Empire  ;  and  he  had  frequent  opportu- 
nities of  obliging  these  strangers  by  various  offices  of  kind- 
ness. He  thus,  too,  possessed  means  of  ascertaining  the  state 
of  the  Christian  interest  in  every  land,  and  of  diffusing  his 
own  sentiments  under  singularly  propitious  circumstances. 
When  he  was  fast  rising  into  power,  it  was  alleged  that  he 
was  constituted  chief  pastor  of  the  Church  by  Christ  himself ; 
and  a  text  of  Scripture  was  quoted  which  was  supposed  to 
endorse  his  title.  For  a  time  no  one  cared  to  challenge  its 
application ;  for  meanwhile  his  precedence  was  but  nominal, 
and  those  who  were  competent  to  point  out  the  delusion,  had 
no  wish  to  give  offence,  by  attacking  the  fond  conceit  of  a 
friendly  and  prosperous  prelate.    But  when  the  scene  changed, 

'  In  the  life  of  Marcellus  we  read  of  so  many  places  of  worship  in  Rome. 
See  "Hist.  Platinee  De  Vitis  Pontif.  Roman."  p.  40,  Colonial,  1593.  Opta- 
tus  speaks  of  forty  churches  in  Rome  at  this  time ;  but  he  is  probably  mis- 
taken as  to  the  date.  There  may  have  been  so  many  after  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity  by  Constantine.  There  were  only  fifty  churches  in  the 
Western  capital  in  the  beginning  of  thcfifth  century.  See  Neander,  i.  276; 
edit.  Edinburgh,  1847. 


330  ROME   WANTS   THE   KEY   OF   KNOWLEDGE. 

and  when  the  Empire  found  another  capital,  the  acumen  of 
the  bishop  of  the  rival  metropolis  soon  discovered  a  sounder 
exposition  ;  and'  Chrysostom  of  Constantinople,  at  once  the 
greatest  preacher  and  the  best  commentator  of  antiquity, 
ignored  the  folly  of  Tertullian  and  of  Cyprian.  "  Upon  the 
rock,"  says  he,  "  that  is,  upon  the  faith  of  the  apostle's  con- 
fession," '  the  Church  is  built.  "  Christ  said  that  He  would 
build  His  Church  on  Peter's  confession."  °  Soon  afterward, 
the  greatest  divine  connected  with  the  Western  Church,  and 
the  most  profound  theologian  among  the  fathers,  pointed  out, 
still  more  distinctly,  the  true  meaning  of  the  passage.  "  Our 
Lord  declares,"  says  Augustine,  "  On  this  rock  I  will  found 
my  Church,  because  Peter  had  said :  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the 
Sonof  the  living  God.  On  this  rock  which  thou  hast  confessed, 
He  declares  I  will  build  my  Church,  for  Christ  was  the  rock 
on  whose  foundation  Peter  himself  was  built ;  for  other  foun- 
dation hath  no  man  laid  than  that  which  is  laid,  which  is  Christ 
Jesus." '  In  the  Italian  capital,  the  words  on  which  the  pow- 
er of  the  Papacy  is  understood  to  rest  are  exhibited  in  gigan- 
tic letters  within  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's ;  but  their  exhibi- 
tion only  proves  that  the  Church  of  Rome  has  lost  the  key  of 
knowledge;  for,  though  she  would  fain  appeal  to  Scripture, 
she  shows  that  she  does  not  understand  the  meaning  of  its 
testimony ;  and,  closing  her  eyes  against  the  light  supplied 
by  the  best  and  wisest  of  the  fathers,  she  persists  in  adhering 
to  a  false  interpretation. 

'  In  Matt.  xvi.  i8.     Opera,  torn,  ii.,  p.  344;  edit.  Eton,  1612. 

"  In  John  i.  50.     Opera,  torn,  ii.,  p.  637  ;  edit.  Eton,  161 2. 

»  "  In  Johann.  Evang.  Tractat."  124,  §  5.  Opera,  torn,  ix.,  c.  572.  Augus- 
tine had  before  held  the  more  fashionable  view.  See  "Barrow  on  the 
Pope's  Supremacy,"  by  Dr.  M'Crie,  p.  78. 


SECTION  II. 

THE  LITERATURE  AND  THEOLOGY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    ECCLESIASTICAL    WRITERS. 

By  "the  Fathers"  we  understand  the  writers  of  the  ancient 
Christian  Church.  The  name  is,  however,  of  rather  vague  ap- 
pHcation  ;  for,  though  generally  employed  to  designate  only 
the  ecclesiastical  authors  of  the  first  six  centuries,  it  is  extended 
occasionally  to  distinguished  theologians  who  flourished  in 
the  middle  ages.' 

The  fathers  of  the  second  and  third  centuries  have  a  strong 
claim  on  our  attention.  Living  on  the  verge  of  apostolic 
times,  they  were  acquainted  with  the  state  of  the  Church  when 
it  had  recently  passed  from  under  the  care  of  its  inspired 
founders;  and,  as  witnesses  to  its  early  traditions,  their  testi- 
mony is  of  peculiar  value.  But  the  period  before  us  produced 
comparatively  few  authors,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  its 
literature  has  perished.  There  are  modern  divines,  such  as 
Calvin  and  Baxter,  who  have  each  left  behind  a  more  volumin- 
ous array  of  publications  than  survives  from  all  the  fathers  of 
these  two  hundred  years.  Origen  was  by  far  the  most  pro- 
lific of  the  writers  who  flourished  during  this  interval,  but  the 
greater  number  of  his  productions  have  been  lost;  and  yet 
those  which  remain,  if  translated  into  English,  would  amount 
to  nearly  triple  the  bulk  of  our  authorized  version   of  the 

'  Roman  Catholic  writers  include  authors  who  lived  as  late  as  the  thir- 
teenth century  under  the  designation. 

(331) 


332  JUSTIN   MARTYR. 

Bible.  His  extant  works  are,  however,  more  extensive  than 
all  the  other  memorials  of  this  most  interesting  section  of  the 
history  of  the  Church. 

Among  the  earliest  ecclesiastical  writers  after  the  close  of 
the  first  century  is  Polycarp  of  Smyrna.  He  is  said  to  have 
been  a  disciple  of  the  Apostle  John,  and  hence  he  is  known 
as  one  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers.^  An  epistle  of  his  addressed 
to  the  Philippians,  and  designed  to  correct  certain  vices  and 
errors  which  had  been  making  their  appearance,  is  still  pre- 
served. It  was  written  toward  the  middle  of  the  second 
century ;"  its  style  is  simple  ;  and  its  general  tone  worthy  of  a 
man  who  had  enjoyed  apostolic  tuition.  Its  venerable  author 
suffered  martyrdom  about  A.D.  155,'  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-six.'' 

Justin  Martyr  was  contemporary  with  Polycarp.  He  was 
a  native  of  Samaria,  and  a  Gentile  by  birth  ;  he  had  travelled 
much  ;  he  possessed  a  well-cultivated  mind  ;  and  he  had  made 
himself  acquainted  with  the  various  systems  of  philosophy 
which  were  then  current.  He  could  derive  no  satisfaction 
from  the  wisdom  of  the  pagan  theorists ;  but,  one  day,  as  he 
walked,  somewhat  sad  and  pensive,  near  the  sea-shore,  a  casual 
meeting  with  an  aged  stranger  led  him  to  turn  his  thoughts 
to  the  Christian  revelation.  The  individual  with  whom  he 
had  this  solitary  and  important  interview,  was  a  member  and, 
perhaps,  a  minister  of  the  Church.  After  pointing  out  to 
Justin  the  folly  of  mere  theorizing,  and  recommending  him  to 
study  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  as  well  on  account  of 
their  great  antiquity  as  their  intrinsic  worth,  he  proceeded  to 

'  The  references  in  this  work  to  the  Apostolic  Fathers  by  Cotelerius  are 
to  the  Amsterdam  Edition,  folio,  1724. 

'  This  is  the  date  assig^ned  to  it  by  Bunsen.  "  Hippolytus,"  i.  309.  It  is 
not  probable  that  Polycarp  was  at  the  head  of  the  eldership  of  Smyrna  much 
earlier.     See  Period  iii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap,  v.,  note. 

*  According  to  Ussher  iii.,  A.D.  169. 

*  See  Pearson's  "  Minor  Works,"  ii.  531.  The  date  A.D.  167  is  given  in 
the  Chronicon  of  Eusebius;  but  recent  investigations  have  shown  that  the 
correct  chronology  is  A.D.  155.  See  Bishop  Lightfoot  in  the  Contemporary 
Review  for  May,  1875,  p.  838. 


JUSTIN   MARTYR.  333 

expatiate  on  the  nature  and  excellence  of  the  Gospel.'  The 
impression  made  upon  the  mind  of  the  young  student  was 
never  afterward  effaced ;  he  became  a  decided  Christian  ;  and 
finished  his  career  by  martyrdoni. 

Justin  is  the  first  writer  whose  contributions  to  ecclesiastical 
literature  are  of  considerable  extent.  Some  of  the  works 
ascribed  to  him  are  the  productions  of  others  ;  but  there  is  no 
reason  to  question  the  genuineness  of  his  Dialogue  with  Try- 
pho  the  Jew,  and  of  the  two  Apologies  addressed  to  the  Em- 
perors." Though  the  meeting  with  Trypho  is  said  to  have 
occurred  at  Ephesus,  it  is  now,  perhaps,  impossible  to  deter- 
mine whether  it  ever  actually  took  place,  or  whether  the  Dia- 
logue is  only  the  report  of  an  imaginary  discussion.  It  serves, 
however,  to  illustrate  the  mode  of  argument  then  adopted  in 
the  controversy  between  the  Jews  and  the  disciples,  and 
throws  much  light  on  the  state  of  Christian  theology.  Anto- 
ninus Pius  and  Marcus  Aurelius  were,  probably,  the  Emperors 
to  whom  the  Apologies  are  addressed.  In  these  appeals  to 
imperial  justice  the  calumnies  against  the  Christians  are  re- 
futed, whilst  the  simplicity  of  their  worship  and  the  purity  of 
their  morality  are  impressively  described. 

Justin,  even  after  his  conversion,  still  wore  the  philosopher's 
cloak,  and  continued  to  cherish  an  undue  regard  for  the  wis- 
dom of  the  pagan  sages.  His  mind  never  was  completely 
emancipated  from  the  influence  of  a  system  of  false  meta- 
physics ;  and  thus  it  was  that,  whilst  his  views  of  various  doc- 
trines of  the  Gospel  remained  confused,  his  allusions  to  them 
are  equivocal,  if  not  contradictory.  But  it  has  been  well  re- 
marked that  conscience,  rather  than  science,  guided  many  of  the 
fathers ;  and  the  case  of  Justin  demonstrates  the  truth  of  the 
observation.  He  possessed  an  extensive  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures ;  and  though  his  theological  views  were  not  so  ex- 
act or  so  perspicuous  as  they  might  have  been,  had  he  been 
trained  up  from  infancy  in  the  Christian  faith,  or  had  he 
studied  the  controversies  which  subsequently  arose,  his  creed 

•  The  original  narrative  may  be  found  in  the  Dialogue  with  Trypho. 
5  The  references  to  Justin  in  this  work  are  to  the  Paris  folio  edition  of 
1615. 


334  BARNABAS. 

was  substantially  evangelical.  He  had  received  the  truth  "  in 
the  love  of  it,"  and  he  counted  not  his  life  dear  in  the  service 
of  his  Divine  Master. 

The  Epistle  to  Diognetus,  frequently  included  among  the 
works  of  Justin,  is  the  production  of  an  earlier  writer.  Its 
author,  who  styles  himself  "a  disciple  of  apostles,"  designed 
by-it  to  promote  the  conversion  of  a  friend  ;  his^wn  views  of 
divine  truth  are  comparatively  correct  and  clear ;  and  in  no 
uninspired  memorial  of  antiquity  are  the  peculiar  doctrines  of 
the  Gospel  exhibited  with  greater  propriety  and  beauty.  Ap- 
pended also  to  the  common  editions  of  the  works  of  Justin 
are  the  remains  of  a  few  somewhat  later  writers,  namely, 
Tatian,  Athenagoras,  Theophilus,  and  Hermas.  Tatian  was 
a  disciple  of  Justin ;'  Athenagoras  was  a  learned  man  of 
Athens ;  Theophilus  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  pastors 
of  Antioch  ;  and  of  Hermas  nothing  whatever  is  known.  The 
tracts  of  these  authors  relate  almost  entirely  to  the  contro- 
versy between  Christianity  and  Paganism.  Whilst  they  point 
out  the  folly  and  falsehood  of  the  accusations  so  frequently 
preferred  against  the  brethren,  they  press  the  Gospel  on  the 
acceptance  of  the  Gentiles  with  much  earnestness,  and  sup- 
port its  claims  by  a  great  variety  of  arguments. 

The  tract  known  as  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  was  composed 
in  A.D.  135.'  It  is  the  production  of  a  convert  from  Judaism 
who  took  special  pleasure  in  allegorical  interpretations  of 
Scripture.  Hermas,  the  author  of  the  little  work  called  Pas- 
tor or  The  Shepherd,  is  a  writer  of  much  the  same  character. 
He  was  the  brother  of  Pius,'  who  flourished  about  the  middle 

'  He  afterward  became  the  founder  of  a  sect  noted  for  its  austere  disci- 
pline. His  followers  used  water,  instead  of  wine,  at  the  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.     They  lived  in  celibacy,  and  observed  rigorous  fasts. 

«  The  writer  says  of  the  temple  (chap,  xvi.),  "  It  is  now  destroyed  by  their 
(the  Jews)  enemies,  and  the  sen>ants  of  their  enemies  are  bitildim^  it  up." 
Jerusalem  was  rebuilt  by  Hadrian  about  A.n.  135,  and  the  name  yElia  given 
to  it. 

'  Two  short  letters  ascribed  to  Pius  are  mentioned  Period  ii.,»sec.  iii., 
chap.  vii.  For  a  long  time  Barnabas,  the  author  of  the  epistle,  was  absurdly 
confounded  with  the  companion  of  Paul  mentioned  Acts  xiii.  i,  and  else- 
where; and  Hermas  was  supposed  to  be  the  individual  saluted  in  Rom.  xvi. 


IREN^EUS.  335 

of  the  second  century,  and  who  was,  perhaps,  the  first  or 
second  individual  who  was  officially  designated  Bishop  of 
Rome.  The  writings  of  Papias,  pastor  of  Hierapolis  in  the 
time  of  Polycarp,  are  no  longer  extant.'  The  works  of 
Hegesippus,  of  a  somewhat  later  date,  and  treating  of  the 
subject  of  ecclesiastical  history,  have  also  disappeared.* 

Irenceus  of^^yons  is  the  next  writer  who  claims  our  special 
notice.  He  was  originally  connected  with  Asia  Minor;  and 
in  his  youth  he  is  said  to  have  enjoyed  the  tuition  of  Polycarp 
of  Smyrna.  We  can  not  tell  when  he  left  his  native  country, 
or  what  circumstances  led  him  to  settle  on  the  banks  of  the 
Rhone ;  but  we  know  that,  toward  the  termination  of  the 
reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Gallic 
Christians  to  visit  the  Roman  Church  on  a  mission  of  im- 
portance. The  Celtic  language,  still  preserved  in  the  Gaelic,  or 
Irish,  was  then  spoken  in  France,^  and  Irenaeus  found  it  neces- 
sary to  qualify  himself  for  the  duties  of  a  preacher  among  the 
heathen  by  studying  the  barbarous  dialect.  His  zeal,  energy, 
and  talent  were  duly  appreciated  ;  soon  after  the  death  of 
the  aged  Pothinus  he  became  the  chief  pastor  of  Lyons ;  and 
for  many  years  he  exercised  considerable  influence  through- 
out the  whole  of  the  Western  Church.  When  the  Paschal 
controversy  created  such  excitement,  and  when  Victor  of 
Rome  threatened  to  rend  the  Christian  commonwealth  by  his 
impetuous  and  haughty  bearing,  Irenseus  interposed,  and,  to 
some  extent,  succeeded  in  moderating  the  violence  of  the 

14.  Hence  these  two  writers  have  been  called,  like  Polycarp  and  others, 
Apostolic  Fathers.  As  to  the  date  of  the  Pastor  of  Hermas,  see  Hefele's 
"  Christian  Councils,"  by  Clark,  p.  79. 

'  Eusebius,  who  has  preserved  a  few  fragments  of  this  author,  describes 
him  as  a  very  credulous  person.     See  his  "  Hist."  iii.  39. 

"  In  the  text  it  has  not  been  considered  necessary  to  mention  all  the 
writers,  however  small  their  contributions  to  our  ecclesiastical  literature, 
who  lived  during  the  second  and  third  centuries.  Hence,  Melito  of  Sardis, 
Caius  of  Rome,  and  many  others,  are  unnoticed.  The  remaining  frag- 
ments of  these  early  ecclesiastical  writers  may  be  found  in  Routh's  "  Reli- 
quiae," and  elsewhere. 

3  ijubv,  Tuv  h  KeXrolg  i^iaTpifi/wTuv  ml  Trepl  jiappapov  diaXeKTov  to  TrMarov 
haxoAoviiivuv. — Contra  Hcereses,  lib.  i.  Prsef. 


336  TERTUI.LIAN. 

Italian  prelate.  He  was  the  author  of  several  works,'  but  his 
only  extant  production  is  a  treatise  "  Against  Heresies."  It 
is  divided  into  five  books,  four  of  which  exist  only  in  a  Latin 
version  ;"  and  it  contains  a  lengthened  refutation  of  the  Valen- 
tinians  and  other  Gnostics. 

Irenaeus  is  commonly  called  the  disciple  of  Polycarp ;  but 
he  was  also  under  the  tuition  of  a  less  intelligent  preceptor, 
Papias  of  Hierapolis.^  This  teacher,  who  has  been  already 
mentioned,  and  who  was  the  author  of  a  work  now  lost,  enti- 
tled "  The  Explanations  of  the  Discourses  of  the  Lord,"  is 
noted  as  the  earliest  ecclesiastical  writer  who  held  the  doc- 
trine of  the  personal  reign  of  Christ  at  Jerusalem  during  the 
millennium.  "  These  views,"  says  Eusebius,  "  he  appears  to 
have  adopted   in  consequence  of  having  misunderstood  the 

apostolic  narratives For  he  was  a  man  of  very  slender 

intellect,  as  is  evident  from  his  discourses."  *  His  pupil,  Ire- 
naeus,  possessed  a  much  superior  capacity  ;  but  even  his  writ- 
ings are  not  destitute  of  puerilities;  and  he  derived  some  of 
the  errors  to  be  found  in  them  from  his  weak-minded  teacher.' 

Irenaeus  died  about  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  ;  and, 
shortly  before  that  date,  by  far  the  most  vigorous  and  acute 
writer  who  had  yet  appeared  among  the  fathers,  began  to  at- 
tract attention.  This  was  the  celebrated  Tertullian.  He 
was  originally  a  heathen,'  and  he  seems  in  early  life  to  have 
been  engaged  in  the  profession  of  a  lawyer.  At  that  time,  as 
afterward,  there  was  constant  intercourse  between  Rome  and 
Carthage  ; '  Tertullian  was  well  acquainted  with  both  these  great 

'  The  references  to  Irenasus  in  this  work  are  to  Stieren's  edition  of  1853. 

*  Wordsworth  has  remarl<ed  that  in  the  "  Philosophumena  "  of  Hippolytus 
we  have  some  of  the  lost  text  of  Irenaeus.     St.  Hippolytus,  p.  15. 

'  Such  is  the  testimony  of  Jerome.    See  Cave's  "  Life  of  Irenasus." 

*  Euseb.  "  Hist."  iii.  39. 

*  Irenaeus  adopted  the  millenarianism  of  Papias.     See  Euseb.  iii.  39. 

*  This  is  evident  from  his  own  statements.  See  his  "  Apology,"  c.  18,  and 
"  De  Spectaculis,"  c.  19.  The  references  to  Tertullian  in  this  work  are  either 
to  the  edition  of  Oehler  of  1853,  or  to  that  of  Rigaltius  of  1675. 

'  According  to  some,  the  population  of  Carthage  at  this  time  amounted 
to  hundreds  of  thousands.  "  The  intercourse  between  Carthage  and  Rome, 
on  account  of  the  corn  trade  alone,  was  probably  more  regular  and  rapid 


TERTULLTAN.  337 

cities  ;  and  he  had  resided  several  years  in  the  capital  of  the 
Empire.'  But  most  of  his  public  life  was  spent  in  Carthage, 
the  place  of  his  birth.  In  the  beginning  of  the  third  century- 
clerical  celibacy  was  beginning  to  be  fashionable  ;  and  yet 
Tertullian,  though  a  presbyter,''  was  married,  for  two  of  his 
tracts  are  addressed  To  his  Wife;  and  his  works  attest  that 
then  no  law  of  the  Church  prohibited  ecclesiastics  from  enter- 
ing into  wedlock. 

The  extant  productions  of  this  writer  are  numerous.  Of 
some  pieces,  the  most  accomplished  scholars  have  found  it 
difficult  to  furnish  at  once  a  literal  and  an  intelligible  version.* 
His  style  is  harsh,  his  transitions  are  abrupt,  and  his  innuen- 
does and  allusions  most  perplexing.  He  was  a  man  of  very 
bilious  temperament,  who  could  scarcely  distinguish  a  theo- 
logical opponent  from  a  personal  enemy  ;  for  he  pours  forth 
on  those  who  differ  from  him  whole  torrents  of  sarcasm  and 
invective."  His  strong  passion,  acting  on  a  fervid  imagination, 
completely  overpowered  his  judgment  ;  and  hence  he  deals 
so  largely  in  exaggeration  that,  as  to  many  matters  of  fact, 
we  can  not  safely  depend  upon  his  testimony.  His  tone  is 
dictatorial  and  dogmatic  ;  and,  though  we  can  not  doubt  his 
piety,  we  feel  that  his  spirit  is  somewhat  repulsive  and  ungen- 
ial.  Whilst  he  was  sadly  deficient  in  sagacity,  he  was  very 
much  the  creature  of  impulse  ;  and  thus  it  was  that  he  was  so 

than  with  any  other  part  of  the  Empire." — Afz'lman's  Latin  Christiaftity, 
i.  p.  47. 

'  See  Euseb.  ii.  2,  25. 

*  Such  is  the  testimony  of  Jerome,  who  asserts  farther  that  the  treatment 
he  received  from  the  clergy  of  Rome  induced  him  to  leave  that  city. 

"  Such  as  the  tracts  "De  Pallio"  and  "  De  Jejuniis."  Since  the  appear- 
ance of  the  1st  edition  of  this  work,  a  translation  of  the  works  of  Tertullian 
has  been  published  among  the  Ante-Nicene  fathers  by  the  Messrs.  Clark, 
Edinburgh. 

*  As  a  choice  specimen  of  his  vituperative  ability  his  denunciation  of  Mar- 
cion  may  be  quoted  :  "  Sed  nihil  tarn  barbarum  ac  triste  apud  Pontum  quam 
quod  illic  Marcion  natus  est,  Scytha  tetrior,  Hamaxobio  instabilior,  Massa- 
geta  inhumanior,  Amazona  audacior,  nubilo  obscurior,  hieme  frigidior,  gelu 
fragilior,  Istro  fallacior,  Caucaso  2\ixw^\\ox ." —Adversus  Marcio7tem,  lib.  i., 
c.   I. 

22 


338  .  TERTULLIAN. 

superstitious,  so  bigoted,  and  so  choleric.  But  he  was,  beyond 
question,  possessed  of  erudition  and  of  genius ;  and  when  he 
advocates  a  right  principle,  he  can  expound,  defend,  and  illus- 
trate it  with  great  ability  and  eloquence. 

Tertullian  is  commonly  known  as  the  earliest  of  the  Latin 
fathers.'  The  writer  who  first  attempted  to  supply  the  rulers 
of  the  world  with  a  Christian  literature  in  their  own  tongue 
encountered  a  task  of  much  difficulty.  It  Avas  no  easy  matter 
to  conduct  theological  controversies  in  a  language  which  was 
not  remarkable  for  flexibility,  and  which  had  never  before 
been  employed  in  such  discussions ;  and  Tertullian  often 
found  it  necessary  to  coin  unwonted  forms  of  expression,  or 
rather  to  invent  an  ecclesiastical  nomenclature.  The  ponder- 
ous Latin,  hitherto  accustomed  to  speak  only  of  Jupiter  and 
the  gods,  engages  somewhat  awkwardly  in  its  new  vocation  ; 
and  yet  contrives  to  proclaim,  with  wonderful  power,  the  great 
thoughts  for  which  it  now  finds  utterance.  Several  years 
after  his  appearance  as  an  author,  Tertullian  lapsed  into  Mon- 
tanism — a  species  of  heresy  peculiarly  attractive  to  a  man  of 
his  rugged  and  austere  character.  Some  of  his  works  bear 
clear  traces  of  this  change  of  sentiment ;  but  others  furnish  no 
internal  evidences  warranting  us  to  pronounce  decisively  re- 
specting the  date  of  their  composition.  Though  he  identified 
himself  with  a  party  under  the  ban  of  ecclesiastical  proscrip- 
tion, his  works  still  continued  to  be  held  in  high  repute,  and 
to  be  perused  with  avidity  by  those  who  valued  themselves 
on  their  zeal  for  orthodoxy.  It  is  recorded  of  one  of  the  most 
influential  of  the  Catholic  bishops  of  the  third  century  that 
he  read  a  portion  of  them  daily ;  and,  when  calling  for  his 
favorite  author,  he  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  Give  me  the 
Mastery^ 

Tertullian  flourished  at  a  period  when  ecclesiastical  usurpa- 
tion was  beginning  to  produce  some  of  its  bitter  fruits,  and 
when  religion  was  rapidly  degenerating  from  its  primitive  puri- 

'  Victor  of  Rome,  who  was  contemporary  with  Tertullian,  is  said  to  have 
written  in  Latin,  but  the  extant  letters  ascribed  to  him  are  spurious. 
'  Such,  according  to  Jerome,  was  the  practice  of  Cyprian. 


CLEMENT   OF   ALEXANDRIA.  339 

ty.'  His  works,  which  treat  of  a  great  variety  of  topics  inter- 
esting to  the  Christian  student,  throw  immense  light  on  the 
state  of  the  Church  in  his  generation.  His  best  known  pro- 
duction is  his  Apology,  in  which  he  pleads  the  cause  of  the 
persecuted  disciples  with  consummate  talent,  and  urges  upon 
the  State  the  equity  and  the  wisdom  of  toleration.  He  ex- 
pounds the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  more  lucidly  than  any  pre- 
ceding writer;  he  treats  of  Prayer,  of  Repentance,  and  of 
Baptism ;  he  takes  up  the  controversy  witjji  the  Jews  ; "  and 
he  assails  the  Valentinians  and  other  heretics.  But  the  way 
of  salvation  by  faith  was  very  indistinctly  apprehended  by 
him,  so  that  he  can  not  be  safely  trusted  as  a  theologian.  He 
had  evidently  no  clear  conception  of  the  place  which  works 
ought  to  occupy  according  to  the  scheme  of  the  Gospel ;  and 
hence  he  sometimes  speaks  as  if  pardon  could  be  purchased 
by  penance,  by  fasting,  or  by  martyrdom. 

Clement  of  Alexandria  was  contemporary  with  Tertullian. 
Like  him,  he  was  a  Gentile  by  birth  ;  but  we  know  nothing  of 
the  circumstances  connected  with  his  conversion.  In  early 
times  Alexandria  was  one  of  the  great  marts  of  literature  and 
science;  its  citizens  were  noted  for  their  intellectual  culture; 
and,  when  a  Church  was  formed  there,  learned  men  began  to 
pass  over  to  the  new  religion  in  considerable  numbers.  It 
was,  in  consequence,  deemed  expedient  to  establish  an  insti- 
tute where  catechumens  of  this  class,  before  admission  to  bap- 
tism, could  be  instructed  in  the  faith  by  some  well-qualified 
teacher.  The  plan  of  the  seminary  was  gradually  enlarged  ; 
and  it  soon  supplied  education  to  candidates  for  the  ministry. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  second  century,  Pantaenus,  a  distin- 
guished scholar,  had  the  charge  of  it :  and  Clement,  who  had 
been  his  pupil,^  became  his  successor  as  its  president.     Some 

'  He  died  at  an  advanced  age,  but  the  date  of  his  demise  can  not  be  accu- 
rately determined.  Most  of  his  works  were  written  between  A.D.  194  and 
A.D.  217. 

'^  The  part  of  the  work  "  Adversus  Judasos,"  from  the  beginning  of  the 
ninth  chapter,  is  taken  chiefly  from  the  third  book  of  the  Treatise  against 
Marcion,  and  has  been  added  by  another  hand. 

^  Euseb.  V.  II. 


340  HIPPOLYTUS. 

of  the  works  of  this  writer  have  perished,  and  his  only  extant 
productions  are  a  discourse  entitled  "What  rich  man  shall  be 
saved  ?  "  his  Address  to  the  Greeks  or  Gentiles,  his  Paedagogue, 
and  his  Stromata.  The  hortatory  Address  is  designed  to  win 
over  the  pagans  from  idolatry  ;  the  Paedagogue  directs  to  Je- 
sus, or  the  Word,  as  the  great  Teacher,  and  supplies  converts 
with  practical  precepts  for  their  guidance  ;  whilst,  in  the  Stro- 
mata, or  Miscellanies,  we  have  a  description  of  what  he  calls 
the  Gnostic  or  perfect  Christian.  He  here  takes  occasion 
to  attack  those  who,  in  his  estimation,  were  improperly  desig- 
nated Gnostics,  such  as  Basilides,  Valentine,  Marcion,  and 
others. 

Clement,  as  is  evident  from  his  writings,  was  extensively 
acquainted  with  profane  literature.  But  he  formed  quite  too 
high  an  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  heathen  philosophy,  and 
allegorized  Scripture  in  a  way  as  dangerous  as  it  was  absurd. 
By  the  serpent  which  deceived  Eve,  according  to  Clement, 
'■^pleasure,  an  earthly  vice  which  creeps  upon  the  belly,  is  alle- 
gorically  represented."  '  Moses,  speaking  allegorically,  if  we 
may  believe  this  writer,  called  the  Divine  Wisdom  the  tree  of 
life  planted  in  paradise  ;  by  which  paradise  we  may  under- 
stand the  world,  in  which  all  the  works  of  creation  were  called 
into  being.^  He  even  interprets  the  ten  commandments  alle- 
gorically. Thus,  by  adultery  he  understands  a  departure  from 
the  true  knowledge  of  the  Most  High  ;  and  by  murder,  a  vio- 
lation of  the  truth  respecting  God  and  His  eternal  existence.' 
It  is  easy  to  see  how  Scripture,  by  such  a  system  of  inter- 
pretation, might  be  tortured  into  a  witness  for  any  extrav- 
agance. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  third  century  Hippolytus  of  Portus 
exerted  much  influence  by  his  writings.  It  was  long  believed 
that,  with  the  exception  of  some  fragments  and  a  few  tracts 
of  little  consequence,  the  works  of  this  father  had  ceased  to 
exist  ;  but,  as  stated  in  a  preceding  chapter,*  one  of  his  most 

'  "  Admonitio  ad  Gentes,"  Opera,  p.  69.    Edit.  Coloniae,  1688. 

'  "  Stromata,"  book  v. 

'  .See  Kaye's  "Clement  of  Alexandria,"  p.  378. 

*  Period  ii..  sec.  i.,  chap,  v.,  p.  313. 


ORIGEN.  341 

important  publications,  the  "  Philosophumena,  or  Refutation 
of  all  Heresies,"  has  been  recently  recovered.  The  reappear- 
ance of  this  production  after  so  many  centuries  of  oblivion  is 
an  extraordinary  fact ;  and  its  testimony  relative  to  historical 
transactions  of  deep  interest  connected  with  the  early  Church 
of  Rome,  has  created  quite  a  sensation  among  the  students  of 
ecclesiastical  literature. 

Hippolytus  was  the  disciple  of  Irenaeus,  and  one  of  the 
soundest  theologians  of  his  generation.  His  works,  which  are 
written  in  Greek,  illustrate  his  learning,  his  acuteness,  and  his 
eloquence.  His  views  on  some  matters  of  ecclesiastical  disci- 
pline were,  indeed,  too  rigid  ;  and,  by  a  writer  of  the  fifth 
century,'  he  has  been  described  as  an  abettor  of  Novatianism  ; 
but  his  zeal  and  piety  are  universally  admitted.  He  lost  his 
life  in  the  cause  of  Christianity ;  and  though  he  attests  the 
heretical  teaching  of  two  of  her  chief  pastors,  the  Church  of 
Rome  still  honors  him  as  a  saint  and  a  martyr. 

Minucius  Felix  was  the  contemporary  of  Hippolytus.  He 
was  a  Roman  lawyer,  and  a  convert  from  paganism.  In  his 
Dialogue  entitled  "  Octavius,"  the  respective  merits  of  Christi- 
anity and  heathenism  are  discussed  with  much  vivacity.  In 
point  of  style  this  little  work  is  surpassed  by  none  of  the  ec- 
clesiastical writings  of  the  period. 

Another  and  a  still  more  distinguished  author,  contemporary 
with  Hippolytus,  was  OriGEN.  He  was  born  at  Alexandria 
about  A.D.  185  ;  his  father,  Leonides,  who  was  a  teacher  of 
rhetoric,  was  a  member  of  the  Church  ;  and  his  son  enjoyed 
the  advantages  of  an  excellent  elementary  education.  Origen, 
when  very  young,  was  required  daily  to  commit  prescribed 
portions  of  the  Word  of  God  to  memory  ;  and  the  child  soon 
became  intensely  interested  in  the  study  of  the  sacred  oracles. 
The  questions  which  he  proposed  to  his  father,  as  he  repeated 
his  appointed  tasks,  displayed  singular  precocity  of  intellect  ; 
and  Leonides  rejoiced  exceedingly  as  he  observed  from  time 
to  time  the  growing  indications  of  his  extraordinary  genius. 
But  before  Origen  reached  maturity,  his  good  parent  fell  a 
victim  to  the  intolerance  of  the  imperial  laws.  In  the  perse- 
'  Prudentius.     See  Wordsworth's  "Hippolytus,"  pp.  105-112. 


342  ORIGEN. 

cution  under  Septimius  Severus,  when  the  young  scholar  was 
about  seventeen  years  of  age,  Leonides  was  put  into  confine- 
ment, and  then  beheaded.  He  had  a  wife  and  seven  children 
who  were  likely  to  be  left  destitute  by  his  death  ;  but  Origen, 
his  first-born,  afraid  lest  his  constancy  should  be  overcome  by 
the  prospect  of  a  beggared  family,  wrote  a  letter  to  him  when 
he  was  in  prison  to  encourage  him  to  martyrdom.  "  Stand 
steadfast,  father,"  said  the  ardent  youth,  "  and  take  care  not 
to  desert  your  principles  on  our  a'ccount,"  At  this  crisis  he 
would  have  exposed  himself  to  martyrdom  had  not  his  moth- 
er hid  his  clothes,  and  thus  prevented  him  from  appearing  in 
public. 

When  Leonides  was  put  to  death  his  property  was  confis- 
cated, and  his  family  reduced  to  poverty.  But  Origen  at- 
tracted the  notice  of  a  rich  and  noble  lady  of  Alexandria,  who 
received  him  into  her  house  and  became  his  patron.  He  did 
not,  however,  remain  long  under  her  roof,  as  he  was  soon  able 
to  earn  a  maintenance  by  teaching.  He  continued,  mean- 
while, to  apply  himself  with  amazing  industry  to  the  acquisi- 
tion of  knowledge  ;  and  at  length  he  began  to  be  regarded  as 
one  of  the  most  learned  of  the  Christians.'  So  great  was  his 
celebrity  as  a  divine  that,  more  than  once  during  his  life,  whole 
synods  of  foreign  bishops  solicited  his  advice  and  interference 
in  the  settlement  of  theological  controversies. 

Whilst  Origen,  by  intense  study,  was  constantly  adding  to 
his  intellectual  treasures,  he  also  improved  his  mind  by  travel- 
ling. When  twenty-six  years  of  age  he  made  a  journey  to 
Rome  ;  and  he  subsequently  visited  Arabia,  Palestine,  Syria, 
Asia  Minor,  and  Greece.  As  he  passed  through  Palestine  in 
A.D.  228,  when  he  was  in  the  forty-third  year  of  his  age,  he 
was  ordained  a  presbyter  by  some  of  the  bishops  of  that  coun- 
try. He  was  now  teacher  of  the  catechetical  school  of  Alex- 
andria— an  office  in  which  he  had  succeeded  Clement — and  his 
ordination  by  the  foreign  pastors  gave  great  offence  to  Deme- 
trius, his  own  bishop.  This  haughty  churchman  was  galled 
by  the  superior  reputation  of  the  great  scholar;  and  Origen, 
on  his  return  to  Egypt,  was  exposed  to  an  ecclesiastical  per 
secution.     An  indiscreet  act  of  his  youth  was  converted  into 


ORIGEN.  343 

a  formidable  accusation,'  whilst  some  incautious  speculations 
in  which  he  had  indulged  were  urged  as  evidences  of  his  un- 
soundness in  the  faith.  His  ordination  was  pronounced  in- 
valid ;  he  was  deprived  of  his  appointment  as  president  of  the 
catechetical  school,  and  excommunicated  as  a  heretic.  He 
now  retired  to  Caesarea,  where  he  spent  the  greater  portion  of 
the  remainder  of  his  life.  The  sentence  of  excommunication 
was  announced  by  Demetrius  to  the  Churches  abroad ;  but, 
though  it  was  approved  at  Rome  and  elsewhere,  it  was  not 
recognized  in  Palestine,  Phcenice,  Arabia,  and  Achaia.  At 
Caesarea,  Origen  established  a  theological  seminary  such  -as 
that  over  which  he  had  so  long  presided  at  Alexandria ;  and 
in  this  institute  some  of  the  most  eminent  pastors  of  the  third 
century  received  their  education. 

This  great  man  throughout  life  practiced  extraordinary  self- 
denial.  His  clothing  was  scarcely  sufficient  to  protect  him 
from  the  cold ;  he  slept  on  the  ground  ;  he  confined  himself 
to  the  simplest  fare;  and  for  years  he  persisted  in  going  bare- 
foot.' But  his  austerities  did  not  prevent  him  from  acquiring 
a  world-wide  reputation.  Pagan  philosophers  attended  his 
lectures,  and  persons  of  the  highest  distinction  sought  his  so- 
ciety. When  Julia  Mammaea,  the  mother  of  Alexander  Sever- 
us,  invited  him  to  visit  her,  and  when,  in  compliance  with  this 
summons,  he  proceeded  to  Antioch,'  escorted  by  a  military 
guard,  he  was  an  object  of  no  little  curiosity  to  the  imperial 
courtiers.  It  could  no  longer  be  said  that  the  Christians  were 
an  illiterate  generation  ;  as,  in  all  that  brilliant  throng  sur- 
rounding the  throne  of  the  Master  of  the  Roman  world,  there 
was  not,  perhaps,  one  to  be  compared  with  the  poor  catechist 
of  Alexandria  for  varied  and  profound  scholarship.  But  his 
theological  taste  was  sadly  vitiated  by  his  study  of  the  pagan 
philosophy.  Clement,  his  early  instructor,  led  him  to  enter- 
tain far  too  high  an  opinion  of  its  excellence ;  and  a  subse- 
quent teacher,  Ammonius  Saccas,  the  father  of  New  Platonism, 
thoroughly  imbued  his  mind  with  many  of  his  own  dangerous 

He  had  acted  literally  as  described,  Matt.  xix.  12. 
*  Euseb.  vi.  3.  '  Euseb.  vi.  21. 


344  ORIGEN. 

principles.  According  to  Ammonius  all  systems  of  religion 
and  philosophy  contain  the  elements  of  truth  ;  and  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  wise  man  to  trace  out  and  exhibit  their  harmony. 
The  doctrines  of  Plato  formed  the  basis  of  his  creed,  and  it  re- 
quired no  little  ingenuity  to  show  how  all  other  theories  quad- 
rated with  the  speculations  of  the  Athenian  sage.  To  estab- 
lish his  views,  he  was  obliged  to  draw  much  on  his  imagina- 
tion, and  to  adopt  modes  of  exegesis  the  most  extravagant 
and  unwarrantable.  The  philosophy  of  Ammonius  exerted  a 
very  pernicious  influence  on  Origen,  and  seduced  him  into  not 
a  few  of  those  errors  which  have  contributed  so  greatly  to 
lower  his  repute  as  a  theologian. 

Origen  was  a  most  prolific  author  ;  and,  if  all  his  works  were 
still  extant,  they  would  be  far  more  voluminous  than  those  of 
any  other  of  the  fathers.  But  most  of  his  writings  have  been 
lost ;  and,  in  not  a  few  instances,  those  which  remain  have 
reached  us  either  in  a  very  mutilated  form,  or  in  a  garbled 
Latin  version.  His  treatise  "  Against  Celsus,"  which  was  com- 
posed when  he  was  advanced  in  life,'  and  which  is  by  far  the 
most  valuable  of  his  existing  works,  has  come  down  to  us  in  a 
more  perfect  state  than  any  of  his  other  productions.  It  is  a 
defence  of  Christianity  in  reply  to  the  publication  of  a  witty 
heathen  philosopher  who  wrote  against  it  in  the  time  of  the 
Antonines."  Of  His  celebrated  "  Hexapla,"  to  which  he  de- 
voted much  of  his  time  for  eight  and  twenty  years,  only  acme 
fragments  have  been  preserved.  This  great  work  was  under- 
taken to  meet  the  cavils  of  the  Jews  against  the  Scptuagint — 
the  Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  in  current  use  in  the 
days  of  the  apostles,  and  still  most  appreciated  by  the  Christians. 
The  unbelieving  Israelites  pronounced  it  a  corrupt  version  ; 
and,  that  all  might  have  an  opportunity  of  judging  for  them- 
selves, Origen  exhibited  the  text  in  six  consecutive  columns — 
the  first,  containing  the  original  Hebrew — the  second,  the  same 
in  Greek  letters — and  the  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth,  four 

'  Euseb.  vi.  36. 

*  He  says  Celsus  lived  in  the  reign  of  Hadrian  and  afterward.  "Contra 
Celsum,"  i.  §  8  ;  Opera,  torn  i.,  p.  327.  The  references  to  Orig-en  in  this  work 
are  to  the  edition  of  the  Benedictine  Delarue,  4  vols,  folio.     Paris,  1733-59. 


ORIGEN.  ^  345 

of  the  most  famous  of  the  Greek  translations,  including  the 
Septuagint."  The  labor  employed  in  the  collation  of  manu- 
scripts, when  preparing  this  work,  was  truly  prodigious.  The 
expense,  which  must  also  have  been  great,  was  defrayed  by 
Ambrosius,  a  wealthy  Christian  friend,  who  placed  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  editor  the  constant  services  of  seven  amanuenses. 
By  his  "  Hexapla"  Origen  did  much  to  preserve  the  purity  of 
the  sacred  text,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  science  of 
Scripture  criticism. 

This  learned  writer  can  not  be  trusted  as  an  interpreter  of 
the  inspired  oracles.  Like  the  Jewish  Cabalists,  of  whom 
Philo,  whose  works  he  had  diligently  studied,^  is  a  remarkable 
specimen,  he  neglects  the  literal  sense  of  the  Word,  and  be- 
takes himself  to  mystical  expositions.'  In  this  way  the  divine 
record  can  be  made  to  support  any  crotchet  which  happens  to 
please  the  fancy  of  the  commentator.  Origen  may,  in  fact,  be 
regarded  as  the  father  of  Christian  mysticism ;  and  in  after- 
ages,  to  a  certain  class  of  visionaries,  especially  among  the 
monks,  his  writings  long  continued  to  present  peculiar  attrac- 
tions. 

On  doctrinal  points  his  statements  are  not  always  consistent, 
so  that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  form  anything  like  a  correct 
idea  of  his  theological  sentiments.  Thus,  on  the  subject  of  the 
Trinity,  he  sometimes  speaks  most  distinctly  in  the  language 
of  orthodoxy,  whilst  again  he  employs  phraseology  which 
rather  savors  of  the  creed  of  Sabellius  or  of  Arius.  In  his  at- 
tempts to  reconcile  the  Gospel  and  his  philosophy,  he  misera- 
bly compromised  some  of  the  most  important  truths  of  Script- 
ure. The  fall  of  man  seems  to  be  not  unfrequently  repudiated 
in  his  religious  system  ;  and  yet,  occasionally,  it  is  distinctly 
recognized."    He  maintained  the  pre-existence  of  human  souls  ; 

'  The  three  other  Greek  versions  were  those  of  Aquila,  of  Symmachus, 
and  of  Theodotian. 

°  Origen,  in  his  writings,  repeatedly  refers  to  Philo  by  name.    See  Opera, 

i.  543- 

^  See  Euseb.  ii.,  c.  17. 

■•  Thus  he  declares,  "  The  prophets  indicatingwhat  is  wise  concerning  the 
circumstances  of  our  generation,  say  that  sacrifice  is  offered  for  sin,  ev^n  the 
sin  of  those  newly  born  as  not  free  from  sin,  for  it  is  written,  '  I  was  shapen 


346  ,  CYPRIAN. 

he  held  that* the  stars  are  animated  beings;  that  all  men  shall 
ultimately  attain  happiness ;  and  that  the  devils  themselves 
shall  eventually  be  saved.' 

It  is  abundantly  clear  that  Origen  was  a  man  of  true  piety. 
His  whole  life  illustrates  his  self-denial,  his  single-mindedness, 
his  delight  in  the  Word  of  God,  and  his  zeal  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  In  the  Decian  persecution  he 
suffered  nobly  as  a  confessor;  and  the  torture  which  he  then 
endured  hastened  his  demise.  But  with  all  his  learning  he  was 
deficient  in  practical  sagacity;  and,  though  both  his  genius  and 
his  eloquence  were  of  a  high  order,  he  possessed  scarcely  even 
an  average  share  of  prudence  and  common  sense.  His  writ- 
ings diffused,  not  the  genial  light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness, 
but  the  mist  and  darkness  of  a  Platonized  Christianity.  Though 
he  induced  many  philosophers  to  become  members  of  the 
Church,  the  value  of  these  accessions  was  greatly  deteriorated 
by  the  daring  spirit  of  speculation  which  they  were  encouraged 
to  cultivate.  His  Christian  courage,  his  industry,  and  his  in- 
vincible perseverance,  challenge  our  highest  admiration.  He 
closed  a  most  laborious  career  at  Tyre,  A.D.  254,  in  the  seven- 
tieth year  of  his  age. 

About  the  time  of  the  death  of  Origen,  a  Latin  author, 
whose  writings  are  still  perused  with  interest,  was  beginning 
to  attract  much  notice.  Cyprian  of  Carthage,  before  his  con- 
version  to  Christianity,  was  a  professor  of  rhetoric  and  a  gen- 
tleman of  property.  When  he  renounced  heathenism,  he  had 
reached  the  mature  age  of  forty-five  or  forty-six;  and  as  he 
possessed  rank,  talent,  and  popular  eloquence,  he  was  deemed 
no  ordinary  acquisition  to  the  Church."  About  two  years  after 
in  wickedness,  and  in  sin  did  my  motlier  conceive  me.'  " — Contra  Cclsum, 
vii.  §  50. 

'  He  held,  however,  that  Satan  is  to  be  excepted  from  the  general  salva- 
tion.    See  "  Epist.  ad  Amicos  Alexandrines,"  Opera  i.,  p.  5. 

'  Mr.  Cooper,  in  his  "  Free  Church  of  Ancient  Christendom."  p.  403,  has 
adduced  a  variety  of  arguments  to  show  that  Caacilius,  the  spiritual  lather 
of  Cyprian,  is  the  author  of  the  "  Recognitions  of  Clement,"  a  spurious  pro- 
duction which  was  fabricated  in  the  early  part  of  the  third  century.  The 
evidence  is  very  striking;  and  the  fact,  if  admitted,  will  serve  to  account  for 
the  rapid  spread  of  iiicrarchical  principles  about  this  period. 


CYPRIAN.  347 

his  baptism,  the  chief  pastor  of  the  metropolis  of  the  Procon- 
sular Africa  was  removed  by  death  ;  and  Cyprian,  by  the  ac- 
clamations of  the  Christian  people,  was  called  to  the  vacant 
ofifice.  At  that  time  there  were  only  eight  presbyters,'  or  el- 
ders, connected  with  the  bishopric  of  Carthage ;  but  the  city 
contained  some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  a  population  ;  and, 
though  the  episcopal  dignity  was  not  without  its  perils,  it  did 
not  want  the  attractions  of  wealth  and  influence.  The  ad- 
vancement of  Cyprian  gave  great  offence  to  the  other  elders, 
who  conceived  that  one  of  themselves,  on  the  ground  of 
greater  experience  and  more  lengthened  services,  had  a  bet- 
ter title  to  promotion.  Though  the  new  bishop  was  sustained 
by  the  enthusiastic  support  of  the  multitude,  the  presbytery 
contrived,  notwithstanding,  to  give  him  considerable  annoy- 
ance. Five  of  them,  constituting  a  majority,  formed  them- 
selves into  a  regular  opposition ;  and  for  several  years  the  Car- 
thaginian Church  was  distracted  by  the  struggles  between  the 
bishop  and  his  presbytery. 

The  pastorate  of  Cyprian  extended  over  a  period  of  ten 
years ;  but  meanwhile  persecution  raged,  and  the  bishop  was 
obliged  to  spend  nearly  the  one-third  of  his  episcopal  life  in 
retirement  and  in  exile.  From  his  retreat  he  kept  up  a  com- 
munication by  letters  with  his  flock.^  The  worship  and  con- 
stitution of  the  Church  in  the  middle  of  the  third  century  may 
be  ascertained  pretty  clearly  from  the  Cyprianic  correspond. 

'  See  Sage's  "Vindication  of  the  Principles  of  the  Cyprianic  Age,"  p.  348. 
London,  1701. 

^  In  the  case  of  these  epistles  much  confusion  arises,  in  the  way  of  refer- 
ence, from  their  various  arrangement  by  different  editors.  The  references 
in  this  work  to  Cyprian  are  to  the  ecjition  of  Baluzius,  folio,  Venice,  1728. 
Baluzius,  in  the  arrangement  of  the  letters,  adopts  the  same  order  as  Pame- 
lius,  but  Epistle  II.  of  the  latter  is  Epistle  I.  of  the  former,  and  so  on  to 
Epistle  XXIII.  of  Pamelius,  which  is  Epistle  XXII.  of  the  other.  Baluzius 
here  conforms  exactly  to  the  numeration  of  the  preceding  editor  by  making 
Epistle  XXIV.  immediately  follow  Epistle  XXII.,  so  that  from  this  to  the 
end  of  the  series  the  same  references  apply  equally  well  to  the  work  of  either. 
The  numeration  of  the  Oxford  edition  of  Bishop  Fell  is,  with  a  few  excep- 
tions, quite  different.  The  "  Instructions  "  of  Commodian,  a  poor  Christian 
poet  of  Africa  who  flourished  in  the  third  century,  are  sometimes  found  ap- 
pended to  Cyprian's  works. 


348  CYPRIAN'S   MARTYRDOM. 

ence.  Some  of  the  letters  addressed  to  the  Carthaginian  bish- 
op, as  well  as  those  dictated  by  him,  are  still  extant ;  and  as 
he  maintained  an  epistolary  intercourse  with  Rome,  Cappa- 
docia,  and  other  places,  the  documents  known  as  the  Cyprianic 
writings  '  are  among  the  most  important  of  the  ancient  eccle- 
siastical memorials.  This  eminent  pastor  has  also  left  behind 
him  several  short  treatises  on  topics  which  were  then  attract- 
ing public  attention.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  his 
tracts  on  "The  Unity  of  the  Church,"  "  The  Lord's  Prayer," 
"  The  Vanity  of  Idols,"  "  The  Grace  of  God,"  "  The  Dress  of 
Virgins,"  and  "  The  Benefit  of  Patience." 

The  writings  of  Cyprian  have  long  been  noted  for  their  or- 
thodoxy ;  and  yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  his  hierarchical 
prejudices  stunted  his  charity  and  obscured  his  intellectual 
vision.  Tertullian  was  his  favorite  author ;  and  he  possessed 
much  of  the  contracted  spirit  and  stiff  formalism  of  the  great 
Carthaginian  presbyter.  He  speaks  in  more  exalted  terms  of 
the  authority  of  bishops  than  any  preceding  writer.  The  at- 
tempts of  his  discontented  presbyters  to  curb  his  power  in- 
flamed his  old  aristocratic  hauteur,  and  thus  led  to  a  reaction  ; 
and  supported  by  the  popular  voice,  he  was  tempted  absurdly 
to  magnify  his  office,  and  to  stretch  his  prerogative  beyond 
the  bounds  of  its  legitimate  exercise.  His  name  carried  with 
it  great  influence,  and  from  his  time  episcopal  pretensions  ad- 
vanced apace. 

Cyprian  was  martyred  about  A.D.  258  in  the  Valerian  perse- 
cution. As  he  was  a  man  of  rank,  and  personally  related  to 
some  of  the  imperial  officers  at  Carthage,  he  was  treated, 
when  a  prisoner,  with  unusual  respect  and  indulgence.  On 
the  evening  before  his  death  an  elegant  supper  was  provided 
for  him,  and  he  was  permitted  to  enjoy  the  society  of  a  nu. 
merous  party  of  his  friends.  When  he  reached  the  spot  where 
he  suffered  he  was  subjected  to  no  lingering  torments ;  for  his 
head  was  severed  from  his  body  by  a  single  stroke  of  the  exe- 
cutioner.' 

'  Mr.  Shepherd  has  completely  failed  in  his  attempt  to  disprove  the  genu- 
ineness of  these  writings.  They  are  as  well  attested  as  any  other  docu- 
ments of  antiquity. 

*  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  i.,  chap,  ii.,  p.  274,  note. 


GREGORY   THAUMATURGUS.  349 

The  only  other  writer  of  note  who  flourished  after  Cyprian, 
in  the  third  century/  was  Gregory,  surnamed  TJiauinattirguSy 
or  The  Wonder-Worker.  He  belonged  to  a  pagan  family  of 
distinction  ;  and,  when  a  youth,  was  intended  for  the  profes- 
sion of  the  law ;  but,  becoming  acquainted  with  Origen  at 
Caesareain  Palestine,  he  was  induced  to  embrace  the  Christian 
faith,  and  relinquish  flattering  prospects  of  secular  promotion. 
He  became  subsequently  the  bishop  of  Neo-Caesarea  in  Pon- 
tus.  When  he  entered  on  his  charge  he  had  a  congregation 
of  only  seventeen  individuals ;  but  his  ministry  was  singularly 
successful ;  for,  according  to  tradition,  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city,  with  seventeen  exceptions,  were,  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  members  of  the  Church.  The  reports  respecting  him 
are  exaggerated,  and  no  credit  can  be  attached  to  the  narra- 
tive of  his  miracles.^  He  wrote  several  works,  of  which  his 
"  Panegyric  on  Origen,"  and  his  '*  Paraphrase  on  Ecclesiastes," 
are  still  extant.  The  genuineness  of  some  other  tracts  as- 
cribed to  him  may  be  fairly  challenged. 

The  preceding  account  of  the  fathers  of  the  second  and  third 
centuries  may  enable  us  to  form  some  idea  of  the  value  of 
these  writers  as  ecclesiastical  authorities.  Most  of  them  had 
reached  maturity  before  they  embraced  the  faith  of  the  Gos- 
pel, so  that,  with  a  few  exceptions,  they  wanted  the  advan- 
tages of  an  early  Christian  education.  Some  of  them,  before 
their  conversion,  had  bestowed  much  time  and  attention  on 
the  speculations  of  the  pagan  philosophers ;  and,  after  their 
reception  into  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  they  still  continued 
to  pursue  the  same  unprofitable  studies.  Cyprian,  one  of  the 
most  eloquent  of  these  fathers,  had  been  baptized  only  about 
two  years  before  he  was  elected  bishop  of  Carthage ;  and,  dur- 
ing his  comparatively  short  episcopate,  he  was  generally  in  a 

*  It  has  not  been  thought  necessary  in  this  chapter  to  notice  either  Arno- 
bius,  an  African  rhetorician,  who  wrote  seven  Books  against  the  Gentiles ; 
or  the  Christian  Cicero,  LactaJttius,  who  is  said  to  have  been  his  pupil. 
Both  these  authors  appeared  about  the  end  of  the  period  embraced  in  this 
history,  and  consequently  exerted  little  or  no  influence  during  the  time  01 
which  it  treats. 

*  His  life  was  written  by  Gregory  Nyssen  a  century  after  his  death. 


350  ABSURDITIES   OF  THE   EARLY   FATHERS. 

turmoil  of  excitement,  and  had,  consequently,  little  leisure 
for  reading  or  mental  cultivation.  Such  a  writer  is  not  enti- 
tled to  command  confidence  as  an  expositor  of  the  faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints.  Even  in  our  own  day,  with  all  the 
facilities  supplied  by  printing  for  the  rapid  accumulation  of 
knowledge,  no  one  expects  much  spiritual  instruction  from  an 
author  who  undertakes  the  office  of  an  interpreter  of  Script- 
ure two  years  after  his  conversion  from  heathenism.  The  fa- 
thers of  the  second  and  third  centuries  were  not  regarded  as 
safe  guides  even  by  their  Christian  contemporaries.  Tatian 
was  the  founder  of  a  sect  of  extreme  Teetotalers.'  Tertullian, 
who,  in  point  of  learning,  vigor,  and  genius,  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  Latin  writers  of  this  period,  was  connected  with  a 
party  of  gloomy  fanatics.  Origen,  the  most  voluminous  and 
erudite  of  the  Greek  fathers,  was  excommunicated  as  a  heretic. 
If  we  estimate  these  authors,  as  they  were  appreciated  by  the 
early  Church  of  Rome,  we  must  pronounce  their  writings  of 
little  value.  Tertullian,  as  a  Montanist,  was  under  the  ban  of 
the  Roman  bishop.  Hippolytus  could  not  have  been  a  favor- 
ite with  either  Zephyrinus  or  Callistus,  for  he  denounced  both 
as  heretics.  Origen  was  treated  by  the  Roman  Church  as  a 
man  under  sentence  of  excommunication.  Stephen  deemed 
even  Cyprian  unworthy  of  his  ecclesiastical  fellowship,  be- 
cause the  Carthaginian  prelate  maintained  the  propriety  of 
rebaptizing  heretics. 

Nothing  can  be  more  unsatisfactory,  or  rather  childish,  than 
the  explanations  of  Holy  Writ  sometimes  given  by  these  an- 
cient expositors.  According  to  Tertullian,  the  two  sparrows 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament '  signify  the  soul  and  the 
body  ; '  and  Clemens  Alexandrinus  gravely  pleads  for  mar- 
riage* from  the  promise,  "Where  two  or  three  are  gathered 
together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."* 
Cyprian  produces,  as  an  argument  in  support  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  that  the  Jews  observed  "  the  third,  sixth,  and 
ninth  hours"  as  their  "  fixed  and  lawful  seasons  for  prayer."* 

'  See  a  preceding  note  in  this  chapter,  p.  334.  "  Matt.  x.  29. 

•  Scorpiacc,  c.  ix.  <  Stromata,  book  iii.  '  Matt,  xviii.  20. 

•  "  For,"  says  he,  "  from  the  first  hour  to  the  third,  a  trinity  of  number  is 


ABSURDITIES   OF   THE   EARLY   FATHERS.  35 1 

Origen  represents  the  heavenly  bodies  as  literally  engaged  in 
acts  of  devotion.'  If  these  authorities  are  to  be  credited,  the 
Gihon,  one  of  the  rivers  of  Paradise,  was  no  other  than  the 
Nile.^  Very  few  of  the  fathers  of  this  period  were  acquainted 
with  Hebrew,  so  that,  as  a  class,  they  were  miserably  qualified 
for  the  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures.  Even  Origen  himself 
had  a  very  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  language  of  the  Old 
Testament.'  In  consequence  of  their  literary  deficiencies,  the 
fathers  of  the  second  and  third  centuries  occasionally  commit 
the  most  ridiculous  blunders.  Thus,  Irenaeus  tells  us  that  the 
name  Jesus  in  Hebrew  consists  of  two  letters  and  a  half,  and 
describes  it  as  signifying  "  that  Lord  who  contains  heaven 
and  earth,"  *  This  father  asserts  also  that  the  Hebrew  word 
Adonai,  or  the  Lord,  denotes  "  utterable  and  wonderful."  ' 
Clemens  Alexandrinus  is  not  more  successful  as  an  interpreter 
of  the'  sacred  tongue  of  the  chosen  people  ;  for  he  asserts  that 
Jacob  was  called  Israel  "  because  he  had  seen  the  Lord  God,"  ° 
and  he  avers  that  Abraham  means  "  the  elect  father  of  a 
sound  "  ! '  Justin  Martyr  errs  egregiously  in  his  references  to 
the  Old  Testament ;  as  he  cites  Isaiah  for  Jeremiah,'  Zechariah 
for  Malachi,'  Zephaniah  for  Zechariah,'"  and  Jeremiah  for  Dan- 
manifested  ;  from  the  fourth  on  to  the  sixth,  is  another  trinity  ;  and  in  the 
seventh,  closing  with  the  ninth,  a  perfect  trinity  is  numbered,  in  spaces  of 
three  hours." — On  the  Lord's  Prayer,  p.  426. 

'  "  Contra  Celsum,"  v.  §  11. 

"^  Theophilus  to  Autolycus,  lib.  ii.,  §  24. 

2  In  proof  of  this  see  his  treatise  "Contra  Celsum,"  i.  25,  also  "Opera," 
iii.,  p.  616,  and  iv.,  p.  86. 

*  "  Contra  Hsereses,"  ii.,  c.  xxiv.,  §  2.     See  Matt.  i.  21. 

'  "  Contra  Hsereses,"  ii.,  c.  xxxv.  3.  He  seems  to  have  confounded 
Adonai  and  Yehcnmh.  The  latter  word  was  regarded  by  the  Jews  as  the 
"  unutterable  '  name.  Hence  it  has  been  thought  that  in  the  Latin  version 
of  Irensus  we  should  read  "  innominabile  "  for  "  nominabile."  See  Stieren's 
"  Irenceus,"  i.  418. 

*  "  Pedagogue,"  book  i.     See  Gen.  xxxii.  28. 

■■  "  Stromata,"  book  v.  See  Gen.  xvii.  5.  Not  a  few  of  these  mistakes 
may  be  traced  to  Philo  Judzeus.  Thus,  this  interpretation  of  Abraham  is 
found  in  his  "  Questions  and  Solutions  on  Genesis,"  book  iii.  43. 

*  "  Apol.,"  ii.,  p.  88.  '  "  Dialogue  with  Tyrpho,"  Opera,  p.  268. 
'"  "  Apol,"  ii.,  p.  76. 


352  ABSURDITIES   OF   THE   EARLY   FATHERS. 

iel.'  Irenaeus  repeats,  as  an  apostolic  tradition,  that  when 
our  Lord  acted  as  a  public  teacher  He  was  between  forty  and 
fifty  years  of  age  ;*  and  Tertullian  afifirms  that  He  was  about 
thirty  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  His  crucifixion.'  The  opin- 
ion of  this  same  writer  in  reference  to  angels  is  still  more  ex- 
traordinary. He  maintains  that  some  of  these  beings,  capti- 
vated by  the  beauty  of  the  daughters  of  men,  came  down  from 
heaven  and  married  them  ;  and  that,  out  of  complaisance  to 
their  brides,  they  communicated  to  them  the  arts  of  polishing 
and  setting  precious  stones,  of  preparing  cosmetics,  and  of 
using  other  appliances  which  minister  to  female  vanity.*  His 
ideas  on  topics  of  a  different  character  are  equally  singular. 
Thus,  he  affirms  that  the  soul  is  corporeal,  having  length, 
breadth,  height,  and  figure.*  He  even  goes  so  far  as  to  say 
that  there  is  no  substance  which  is  not  corporeal,  and  that 
God  himself  is  a  body.* 

It  would  seem  as  if  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  permitted 
these  early  writers  to  commit  the  grossest  mistakes,  and  to 
propound  the  most  foolish  theories,  for  the  express  purpose 
of  teaching  us  that  we  are  not  implicitly  to  follow  their  guid- 
ance. It  might  have  been  thought  that  authors  who  flourished 
on  the  borders  of  apostolic  times,  knew  more  of  the  mind  of 
the  Spirit  than  others  in  succeeding  ages  ;  but  the  truths  of 
Scripture,  like  the  phenomena  of  the  visible  creation,  are 
equally  intelligible  to  all  generations.  If  we  possess  spiritual 
discernment,  the  trees  and  the  flowers  will  display  the  wisdom 
and  the  goodness  of  God  as  distinctly  to  us  as  they  did  to  our 
first  parents  ;  and,  if  we  have  the  "  unction  from  the  Holy 
One,"  we  may  enter  into  the  meaning  of  the  Scriptures  as 
fully  as  did  Justin  Martyr  or  Irenaeus.  To  assist  us  in  the 
interpretation  of  the  New  Testament,  we  have  at  command  a 

'  "  Apol.,"  ii.,  p.  86.  '  "  Contra  Hasreses,"  ii.,  c.  xxii.,  §  5. 

*  He  thus  makes  His  ministry  about  a  year  in  length.  "  Adversus  Ju- 
daecs,"  c.  viii. 

*  "  De  Cuitu  Feminatum,"  lib.  i.,  c.  2,  and  lib.  ii..  c.  10. 

*  See  Kayc's  "  Tertullian,"  p.  196.  See  also  Warburton's  "  Divine  Lega- 
tion of  Moses,"  i.  510.     Edit.  London,  1837. 

*  "  Adversus  Hennogcnem,"  c.  35,  and  "  Adversus  Praxeam,"  c.  7. 


THE   BIBLE   ITS   OWN   INTERPRETER.  353 

critical  apparatus  of  which  they  were  unable  to  avail  them- 
selves. Jehovah  is  jealous  of  the  honor  of  His  Word,  and  He 
has  inscribed  in  letters  of  light  over  the  labors  of  its  most  an- 
cient interpreters — "  Cease  YE  FROM  MAN."  The  "  opening 
of  the  Scriptures,"  so  as  to  exhibit  their  beauty,  their  consist- 
ency, their  purity,  their  wisdom,  and  their  power,  is  the  clear- 
est proof  that  the  commentator  is  possessed  of  "  the  key  of 
knowledge."  When  tried  by  this  test,  Thomas  Scott  or  Mat- 
thew Henry  is  better  entitled  to  confidence  than  either  Origen 
or  Gregory  Thaumaturgus.  The  Bible  is  its  own  safest  expos- 
itor. "  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the  soul ; 
the  testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure,  making  wise  the  simple." 


23 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   IGNATIAN   EPISTLES   AND   THEIR   CLAIMS— THE 
EXTERNAL   EVIDENCE. 

The  Epistles  attributed  to  Ignatius  have  attracted  greater 
notice,  and  created  more  discussion,  than  any  other  uninspired 
writings  of  the  same  extent  in  existence.  The  productions 
ascribed  to  this  author,  and  now  reputed  genuine  by  the  most 
learned  of  their  recent  editors,  might  all  be  printed  on  the 
one-fourth  of  a  page  of  an  ordinary  newspaper ;  and  yet,  the 
fatigue  of  travelling  thousands  of  miles  has  been  encountered,' 
for  the  special  purpose  of  searching  after  correct  copies  of 
these  highly-prized  memorials.  Large  volumes  have  been 
written,  either  to  establish  their  authority,  or  to  prove  that 
they  are  forgeries;  and,  if  collected  together,  the  books  in 
various  languages  to  which  they  have  given  birth,  would  them- 
selves form  a  considerable  library.  Recent  discoveries  have 
thrown  new  light  on  their  pretensions,  but  though  the  contro- 
versy has  continued  upwards  of  three  hundred  years,  it  has 
not  hitherto  reached  a  satisfactory  termination.^ 

'  In  1842,  Archdeacon  Tattam,  who  had  returned  only  three  years  before 
from  Egypt,  where  he  had  been  searching  for  ancient  manuscripts,  set  out 
a  second  time  to  that  country,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
British  Museum,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  endeavoring  to  procure  copies 
of  the  Ignatian  epistles.  On  this  occasion  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  posses- 
sion of  the  Syriac  copy  of  the  three  letters  published  by  Dr.  Cureton  in 
1845.  Shortly  before  the  Revolution  of  1688,  Robert  Huntingdon,  after- 
ward Bishop  of  Raphoe,  and  then  chaplain  to  the  British  merchants  at 
Aleppo,  twice  undertook  a  voyage  to  Egypt  in  quest  of  copies  of  the  Igna- 
tian epistles.  On  one  of  these  occasions  he  visited  the  monastery  in  the 
Nitrian  desert,  in  which  the  letters  were  recently  found. 

'  Of  the  writers  who  have  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  Ignatian  con- 
troversy we  may  particularly  mention   Ussher,  Vossius,  Hammond.  Daili^, 
Pearson,  Lanoque,  Rothe,  Baur,  Cureton,  Hefcle.  Bunsen,  and  Lightfoot. 
(354) 


THE   STORY   OF   IGNATIUS.  355 

The  Ignatian  letters  owe  almost  all  their  importance  to  the 
circumstance  that  they  are  supposed  to  have  been  written  on 
the  confines  of  the  apostolic  age.  As  very  few  records  remain 
to  illustrate  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  that  period,  it  is  not 
strange  that  epistles,  purporting  to  have  emanated  from  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  ministers  who  then  flourished,  should 
have  excited  uncommon  attention.  But  doubts  as  to  their 
genuineness  have  always  been  entertained  by  candid  and  com- 
petent scholars.  The  spirit  of  sectarianism  has  entered  largely 
into  the  discussion  of  their  claims  ;  and,  whilst  certain  distinct 
references  to  the  subject  of  Church  polity,  which  they  con- 
tain, have  greatly  enhanced  their  value  in  the  estimation  of 
one  party,  the  same  passages  have  been  quoted,  by  those  who 
repudiate  their  authority,  as  so  many  decisive  proofs  of  their 
fabrication.  The  annals  of  literature  furnish  scarcely  any 
other  case  in  which  ecclesiastical  prejudices  have  been  so 
much  mixed  up  with  a  question  of  mere  criticism. 

The  history  of  the  individual  to  whom  these  letters  are  as- 
cribed, has  been  so  metamorphosed  by  fables,  that  it  is  now 
impossible  to  ascertain  its  true  outlines.  There  is  a  tradition 
that  he  was  the  child  whom  our  Saviour  set  in  the  midst  of 
His  disciples  as  a  pattern  of  humility ; '  and  as  our  Lord,  on 
the  occasion,  took  up  the  little  personage  in  His  arms,  it  has 
been  asserted  that  Ignatius  was  therefore  surnamed  Theophorus, 
that  is,  borne  or  carried  by  God.''  Whatever  may  be  thought 
as  to  the  truth  of  this  story,  it  gives  a  not  very  inaccurate 
view  of  the  date  of  his  birth ;  for  he  was  far  advanced  in 
life'  at  the  period  when  he  is  supposed  to  have  written  these 
celebrated  letters.     According  to  the  current  accounts,  he  was 

'  Matt,  xviii.  2-4  ;  Mark  ix.  36. 

^  There  has  been  a  keen  controversy  respecting  the  accentuation  of  Geo- 
<popor^.  Those  who  place  the  accent  on  the  antepenult  (Be6^opoQ)  give  it  the 
meaning  mentioned  in  the  text;  whilst  others,  placing  the  accent  on  the 
penult  {Qmibopog),  understand  by  it  God-bearing,  the  explanation  given  in  the 
"  Acts  of  the  Martyrdom  of  Ignatius."  See  Daill6,  "  De  Scriptis  quae  sub 
Dionysii  Areop.  et  Ignatii  Antioch.  nom.  circumferuntur,"  lib.  ii.,  c.  25  ;  and 
Pearson's  "  Vindici^  Ignatianae,"  pars  3,  sec.  cap.  xii. 

'  Cave  reckons  that  at  the  time  of  his  martyrdom  he  was  probably 
"  above  four  score  years  old."     See  his  "  Life  of  Ignatius," 


356  THE    IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

the  second  bishop  of  Antioch  at  the  time  of  his  martyrdom ; 
and  as  his  age  suggests  that  he  was  then  the  senior  member 
of  the  presbytery,"  the  tradition  may  have  thus  originated.  It 
is  alleged  that  when  Trajan  visited  the  capital  of  Syria  in  the 
ninth  year  of  his  reign,  or  A.D.  107,  Ignatius  voluntarily  pre- 
sented himself  before  the  imperial  tribunal,  and  avowed  his 
Christianity.  He  was  inconsequence  condemned  to  be  carried 
a  prisoner  to  Rome,  there  to  be  consigned  to  the  wild  beasts 
for  the  entertainment  of  the  populace.  On  his  way  to  the 
Western  metropolis,  he  stopped  at  Smyrna.  The  legend  rep- 
resents Polycarp  as  then  the  chief  pastor  of  that  city ;  and, 
when  there,  Ignatius  received  deputations  from  the  neighbor- 
ing churches,  and  addressed  to  them  several  letters.  From 
Smyrna  he  proceeded  to  Troas ;  where  he  dictated  some  ad- 
ditional epistles,  including  one  to  Polycarp.  The  claims  of 
these  letters  to  be  considered  his  genuine  productions  have 
led  to  the  controversy  we  are  now  to  notice. 

The  story  of  Ignatius  exhibits  many  marks  of  error  and  ex- 
aggeration ;  and  yet  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  determine  how 
much  of  it  should  be  pronounced  fictitious.  Few  will  venture 
to  assert  that  the  account  of  his  martyrdom  is  to  be  rejected 
as  altogether  apocryphal  ;  and  still  fewer  will  go  so  far  as  to 
maintain  that  he  is  a  purely  imaginary  character.  There  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that,  very  early  in  the  second  century, 
he  was  connected  with  the  Church  of  Antioch  ;  and  that, 
about  the  same  period,  he  suffered  unto  death  in  the  cause  of 
Christianity."     Pliny,   who  was  then  Proconsul   of  Bithynia, 

'  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap.  v.  Evodius  is  commonly  represented  as 
the  first  bishop  of  Antioch.     See  Euseb.  iii.  22, 

'  According  to  Malalas,  a  Greek  writer  of  the  sixth  century,  who  lived  in 
Antioch,  Ignatius  was  martyred  on  the  20th  of  December,  A.D.  115 — not 
at  Rome,  but  at  Antioch.  Bishop  Lightfoot  rejects  this  testimony,  among 
other  reasons,  on  account  of  its  late  date  ;  but  it  supplies  proof  that,  in  the 
time  of  this  writer,  the  story  told  by  Eusebius  relative  to  the  Ignatian  epis- 
tles was  discredited.  The  statement — so  minute  as  to  date,  place,  and 
other  circumstances — is  not  at  all  likely  to  have  been  fabricated  by  this 
witness  ;  it  seems  to  have  been  handed  down  to  him  from  earlier  times,  and 
though  we  can  not  now  trace  the  preceding  links  of  evidence,  it  possesses 
stong  internal  marks  of  credibility. 


THE   STORY   OF   IGNATIUS.  357 

mentions  that  as  he  did  not  well  know,  in  the  beginning  of 
his  administration,  how  to  deal  with  the  accused  Christians. 
he  sent  those  of  them  who  were  Roman  citizens  to  the  Em- 
peror, that  he  might  himself  pronounce  judgment.'  It  is  pos- 
sible that  the  chief  magistrate  of  Syria  pursued  the  same 
course ;  and  that  thus  Ignatius  was  transmitted  as  a  prisoner 
into  Italy.  But,  on  some  such  substratum  of  facts,  a  mass  of 
incongruous  fictions  has  been  erected.  The  "  Acts  of  his 
Martyrdom,"  still  extant,  and  written  probably  upwards  of  a 
hundred  years  after  his  demise,  can  not  stand  the  test  of 
chronological  investigation ;  and  have  evidently  been  com- 
piled by  some  very  superstitious  and  credulous  author.  Ac- 
cording to  these  acts,  Ignatius  was  condemned  by  Trajan  at 
Antioch  in  the  ninth^  year  of  his  reign;  but  it  has  been 
contended  that,  not  till  long  afterward,  was  the  Emperor 
in  the  Syrian  capital.'  In  the  "Acts,"  Ignatius  is  de- 
scribed as  presenting  himself  before  his  sovereign  of  his 
own  accord,  to  proclaim  his  Christianity — a  piece  of  fool- 
hardiness  for  which  it  is  difficult  to  discover  any  reasonable 
apology.  The  report  of  the  interview  between  Ignatius  and 
Trajan  attests  that  the  martyr  had  entirely  lost  the  humility 
for  which  he  has  obtained  credit  when  a  child  ;  as  his  conduct, 
in  the  presence  of  the  Emperor,  betrays  no  small  amount  of 
boastfulness   and    presumption.      The   account   of   his   trans- 

'  "  Fuerunt  alii  similis  amentia  :  quos,  quia  cives  Romani  erant,  annotavi 
in  Urbem  remittendos." — Plmii,  Epist.  lib.  x.,  epist.  96. 

^  The  Greek  says  the  nznih,  and  the  Latin  the  fourth  year.  According 
to  both,  the  condemnation  took  place  early  in  the  reign  of  Trajan.  See 
also  the  first  sentence  of  the  "  Acts."  In  his  translation  of  these  "  Acts," 
Wake,  regardless  of  this  statement,  and  in  opposition  to  all  manuscript  au- 
thority, represents  the  sentence  as  pronounced  "  in  the  7iinetee7ith  year  "  of 
Trajan. 

^  See  Jacobson's  "Patres  Apostolici,"  ii.  p.  504.  See  also  Greswell's 
"  Dissertations,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  422,  It  is  evident  that  the  date  in  the  "  Acts  '' 
can  not  be  the  mistake  of  a  transcriber,  for  in  the  same  document  the  mar- 
tyrdom is  said  to  have  occurred  when  Sura  and  Synecius  were  consuls. 
These,  as  Greswell  observes,  were  actually  consuls  "  in  the  nmt/i  of  Trajan." 
Greswell's  "Dissertations,"  iv.  p.  416.  Hefele,  however,  has  attempted  to 
show  that  Trajan  was  really  in  Antioch  about  this  time.  See  his  "  Pat 
Apost.  Opera  Prolegomena,"  p.  35.     Edit.  Tubingen,  1842. 


358  THE    IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

mission  to  Rome,  to  be  thrown  to  wild  beasts,  presents  difficul- 
ties with  which  even  the  most  zealous  defenders  of  his  legend- 
ary history  have  found  it  impossible  to  grapple.  He  was  sent 
away,  say  they,  to  the  Italian  metropolis  that  the  sight  of  so 
distinguished  a  victim  passing  through  so  many  cities  on  his 
way  to  a  cruel  death  might  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the 
Christian  inhabitants.  But  he  was  conveyed  from  Syria  to 
Smyrna  by  laater,^  so  that  the  explanation  is  quite  unsatisfac- 
tory ;  and,  had  the  journey  been  accomplished  by  land,  it  is 
still  insufficient,  as  the  disciples  of  that  age  were  unhappily 
only  too  familiar  with  spectacles  of  Christian  martyrdom. 
Our  perplexity  increases  as  we  proceed  more  minutely  to  in- 
vestigate the  circumstances  under  which  the  epistles  are  report- 
ed to  have  been  composed.  Whilst  Ignatius  was  hurried  with 
great  violence  and  barbarity  from  the  East  to  the  West,  he 
remained  for  many  days  together  in  the  same  place,'  receiving 
visitors  from  the  Churches  all  around,  and  writing  magniloquent 
epistles.  What  is  still  more  remarkable,  though  he  was  pressed 
by  the  soldiers  to  hasten  forward,  and  though  a  prosperous  gale 
speedily  carried  his  vessel  into  Italy,^  one  of  these  letters  is 
expected  to  outstrip  the  rapidity  of  his  own  progress,  and  to 
reach  Rome  before  himself  and  his  impatient  escort ! 

Early  in  the  fourth  century  at  least  seven  epistles  attributed 
to  Ignatius  were  in  circulation,  for  Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  who 
then  flourished,  distinctly  mentions  so  many,  and  states  to 
whom  they  were  addressed.     From  Smyrna  the  martyr  wrote 

'  "  Acts  of  his  Martyrdom,"  §  8. 

-  He  is  said,  when  at  Smyrna,  to  have  been  visited  by  a  deputation  from 
the  Magnesians,  But  Magnesia  on  the  Meander,  the  city  from  which  this 
deputation  is  alleged  to  have  come,  was  at  least  fifty  miles  from  Smyrna  ; 
so  that,  had  notice  been  sent  to  his  friends  there,  as  soon  as  he  arrived  in 
the  place  where  they  were  to  see  him,  and  had  the  Magnesians  set  out  in- 
stantaneously, a  considerable  time  must  meanwhile  have  been  occupied. 
Thus,  notwithstanding  all  the  precipitation  with  which  he  was  hurried  along, 
he  must  have  been  several  days  in  Smyrna.  See  "  Corpus  Ignatianum," 
pp.  326,  327. 

'  "  He  was  pressed  by  the  soldiers  to  /lasfcf:  to  the  public  spectacles  at 
great  Rome."  "  And  the  wind  continuini^  fanorable  to  us,  in  one  day  and 
night  we  were  hurried  on." — Acts  0/  his  Martyrdom,  §§  10,  11. 


THE   STORY   OF   IGNATIUS.  359 

four  letters — one  to  the  Ephesians,  another  to  the  Magnesians, 
a  third  to  the  TralHans,  a  fourth  to  the  Romans.  From  Troas 
he  wrote  three  additional  letters — one  to  Polycarp,  a  second  to 
the  Smyrnaeans,  and  a  third  to  the  Philadelphians.'  At  a  sub- 
sequent period  eight  more  epistles  made  their  appearance, 
including  two  to  the  Apostle  John,  one  to  the  Virgin  Mary, 
one  to  Maria  Cassobolita,  one  to  the  Tarsians,  one  to  the 
Philippians,  one  to  the  Antiochians,  and  one  to  Hero  the  dea- 
con. Thus,  no  less  than  fifteen  epistles  claim  Ignatius  of  An- 
tioch  as  their  author. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  discuss  the  merits  of  the  eight  letters 
unknown  to  Eusebius.  They  were  all  fabricated  after  the 
time  of  that  historian ;  and  critics  have  long  since  concurred  in 
rejecting  them  as  spurious.  Until  recently,  those  engaged  in 
the  Ignatian  controversy  were  occupied  chiefly  with  the  ex- 
amination of  the  claims  of  the  documents  mentioned  by  the 
bishop  of  Caesarea.  Here,  however,  the  strange  variations  in 
the  copies  tended  greatly  to  complicate  the  discussion.  The 
letters  of  different  manuscripts,  when  compared  together, 
disclosed  extraordinary  discrepancies ;  for  though  all  the  cod- 
ices contained  much  of  the  same  matter,  a  letter  in  one  edition 
was,  in  some  cases,  double  the  length  of  the  corresponding 
letter  in  another.  Some  writers  contended  for  the  genuineness 
of  the  shorter  epistles,  and  represented  the  larger  as  made  up 
of  the  true  text  extended  by  interpolations ;  whilst  others  pro- 
nounced the  larger  letters  the  originals,  and  condemned  the 
shorter  as  unsatisfactory  abridgments.^  But,  though  both 
editions  had  most  erudite  and  zealous  advocates,  many  critics 
of  eminent  ability  continued  to  look  with  distrust  on  the  text, 
as  well  of  the  shorter  as  of  the  larger  letters  ;  and  not  a  few 
were  disposed  to  suspect  that  Ignatius  had  no  share  whatever 
in  the  composition  of  any  of  these  documents. 

'  Philadelphia  is  distant  from  Troas  about  two  hundred  miles.  "  Corpus 
Ignatianum,"  pp.  331,  332.  Here,  then,  is  another  difficulty  connected  with 
this  hasty  journey.  How  could  a  deputation  from  Philadelphia  meet  Igna- 
tius in  Troas,  if  he  did  not  stop  a  considerable  time  there  ?  See  other  diffi- 
culties suggested  by  Dr.  Cureton.     "Cor.  Ignat.''  p.  332. 

*  Such  is  the  opinion  maintained  by  the  celebrated  Whiston  in  his  "  Prim- 
itive Christianity."     More  recently  Meier  took  up  nearly  the  same  position. 


360  THE    IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

In  the  year  1845  ^  "^w  tirrn  was  given  to  this  controversy 
by  the  publication  of  a  Syriac  version  of  three  of  the  Ignatian 
letters.  They  were  printed  from  a  manuscript  deposited  in 
1843  in  the  British  Museum,  and  obtained,  shortly  before,. from 
a  monastery  in  the  desert  of  Nitria  in  Egypt.  The  work  was 
dedicated  by  permission  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  the  views  propounded  in  it  were  understood  to  have  the 
sanction  of  the  English  metropolitan.'  Dr.  Cureton,  the  editor, 
has  since  entered  more  fully  into  the  discussion  of  the  subject 
in  his  "  Corpus  Ignatianum'" — a  volume  dedicated  to  His 
Royal  Highness  the  Prince  Albert,  in  which  the  various  texts 
of  all  the  epistles  are  exhibited,  and  in  which  the  claims  of  the 
three  recently  discovered  letters,  as  the  only  genuine  produc- 
tions of  Ignatius,  are  ingeniously  maintained.  In  the  Syriac 
copies,'  these  letters  are  styled,  "  The  Three  Epistles  of  Igna- 
tius, Bishop  and  Martyr,"  and  thus  the  inference  is  suggested 
that  at  one  time  they  were  the  only  three  epistles  in  existence. 
Dr.  Cureton's  statements  have  made  a  great  impression  on  the 
mind  of  the  literary  public,  and  there  is  at  present  a  pretty 
general  disposition  in  certain  quarters^  to  discard  all  the  other 
epistles  as  forgeries,  and  to  accept  those  preserved  in  the  Syriac 
version  as  the  veritable  compositions  of  the  pastor  of  Antioch. 

It  is  obvious  from  the  foregoing  explanations  that  increasing 
light  has  wonderfully  diminished  the  amount  of  literature 
which  once  obtained  credit  under  the  name  of  the  venerable 
Ignatius.  In  the  sixteenth  century  he  was  reputed  by  many 
as  the  author  of  fifteen  letters  ;  it  was  subsequently  discovered 
that  eight  of  them  were  apocryphal ;  farther  investigation  con- 
vinced critics  that  considerable  portions  of  the  remaining  seven 

'  See  Preface  to  the  "  Corpus  Ignatianum,"  p.  4. 

"  Published  in  1849.  In  1846  he  published  his  "  Vindicias  Ignatianae  ;  or 
the  Genuine  Writings  of  St.  Ignatius,  as  exliibiled  in  the  ancient  Syriac 
version,  vindicated  from  the  charge  of  heresy." 

'  In  1847  another  copy  of  the  Syriac  version  of  the  three  epistles  was  de- 
posited in  the  British  Museum,  and  since,  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  has  obtained 
a  third  copy  at  Bagdad.     See  British  Quarterly  for  October,  1855,  p.  452. 

*  Dr.  Lee,  late  Regius  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  Cambridge,  Chevalier  Bun- 
sen,  and  other  scholars  of  great  eminence,  have  espoused  the  views  of  Dr. 
Cureton. 


PEARSON'S   "VINDICI^."  361 

must  be  rejected  ;  and  when  the  short  text  of  these  epistles 
was  pubHshed,'  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
candid  scholars  confessed  that  it  still  betrayed  unequivocal  in- 
dications of  corruption,"  But  even  some  Protestant  writers  of 
the  highest  rank  stoutly  upheld  their  claims,  and  the  learned 
Pearson  devoted  years  to  the  preparation  of  a  defence  of  their 
authority.'  His  "  Vindiciae  Ignatianae  "  has  long  been  consid- 
ered by  a  certain  party  as  unanswerable ;  and,  though  the 
publication  has  been  read  by  very  few,*  the  advocates  of  what 
are  called  "  High-Church  principles  "  have  been  reposing  for 
nearly  two  centuries  under  the  shadow  of  its  reputation.  The 
critical  labors  of  Dr.  Cureton  have  disturbed  their  dream  of 
security,  as  that  distinguished  scholar  has  adduced  very  good 
evidence  to  show  that  about  three-fourths  of  the  matter'  which 
the  Bishop  of  Chester  spent  a  considerable  portion  of  his  ma- 
ture age  in  attempting  to  prove  genuine,  is  the  work  of  an  im- 
postor. It  is  now  admitted  by  the  highest  authorities  that 
four  of  the  seven  short  letters  must  be  given  up  as  spurious ; 
and  the  remaining  three,  which  are  addressed  respectively  to 

^  By  Archbishop  Ussher  in  1644,  and  by  Vossius  in  1646. 

"  Such  was  the  opinion  of  Ussher  himself.  "  Concludimus  ....  nul- 
las  omni  ex  parte  sinceras  esse  habendas  et  genuinas."  Dissertation  pre- 
fixed to  his  edition  of"  Polycarp  and  Ignatius,"  chap.  18. 

^  Pearson  was  occupied  six  years  in  the  preparation  of  this  work.  The 
publication  of  Daille,  to  which  it  was  a  reply,  appeared  in  1666.  Daille 
died  in  1670,  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-six.  The  work  of  Pearson  did 
not  appear  until  two  years  afterward,  or  in  1672.  The  year  following  he 
received  the  bishopric  of  Chester  as  his  reward. 

*  "  In  the  whole  course  of  my  inquiries  respecting  the  Ignatian  Esistles," 
says  Dr.  Cureton,  "  I  have  Jtever  met  with  one  persott  who  pro/esses  to  have 
read  Bishop  Pearson  s  celebrated  book;  but  I  was  informed  by  one  of  the 
most  learned  and  eminent  of  the  present  bench  of  bishops  (Kaye),  that  Por- 
son,  after  having  perused  the  '  Vindici?e,'  had  expressed  to  him  his  opinion 
that  it  was  a  '  very  unsatisfactory  work.' " — Corpus  Ignat.,  Preface,  pp.  14, 
15,  note.  Bishop  Pearson's  work  is  written  in  Latin.  Dr.  Cureton,  in  a 
private  letter,  informed  me  that  Porson  "rejected  "  the  letters  as  edited  by 
Ussher.  Bishop  Kaye  told  him  so.  See  Appendix  to  my  "  Old  Catholic 
Church." 

^  The  "  Three  Epistles  "  edited  by  Dr.  Cureton  contain  only  about  the 
one-fourth  of  the  matter  of  the  seven  shorter  letters  edited  by  Ussher. 


362  THE    IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

Polycarp,  to  the  Ephesians,  and  to  the  Romans,  and  which  are 
found  in  the  Syriac  version,  are  much  shorter  even  than  the 
short  epistles  which  had  already  appeared  under  the  same 
designations.  The  Epistle  to  Polycarp,  the  shortest  of  the 
seven  letters  in  preceding  editions,  is  here  presented  in  a  still 
more  abbreviated  form  ;  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  wants  fully 
the  one-third  of  its  previous  matter  ;  and  the  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians  has  lost  nearly  three-fourths  of  its  contents.  Nor  is 
this  all.  In  the  Syriac  version  a  large  fragment  of  one  of  the 
four  recently  rejected  letters  reappears  ;  as  the  new  edition  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  contains  two  entire  paragraphs  to 
be  found  in  the  discarded  letter  to  the  Trallians. 

It  is  only  due  to  Dr.  Cureton  to  acknowledge  that  his  pub- 
lications have  thrown  immense  light  on  this  tedious  and  keenly 
agitated  controversy.  But,  unquestionably  he  has  not  ex- 
hausted the  discussion.  Instead  of  abruptly  adopting  the 
conclusion  that  the  three  letters  of  the  Syriac  version  are  to 
be  received  as  genuine,  we  conceive  he  would  have  argued 
more  logically  had  he  inferred  that  they  reveal  one  of  the  ear- 
liest forms  of  a  gross  imposture.  We  are  persuaded  that  the 
epistles  he  has  edited,  as  well  as  all  the  others  previously 
published,  are  fictitious, ;  and  we  shall  endeavor  to  demonstrate 
in  the  sequel  of  this  chapter,  that  the  external  evidence  in 
their  favor  is  most  unsatisfactory. 

When  discussing  the  testimonies  from  the  writers  of  an- 
tiquity in  their  support,  it  is  not  necessary  to  examine  any 
later  witness  than  Eusebius.  The  weight  of  his  literary  char- 
acter influenced  all  succeeding  fathers,  and  some,  who  perhaps 
had  never  seen  these  documents,  refer  to  them  on  the  strength 
of  his  authority.'  In  his  "  Ecclesiastical  History,"  which  was 
published,  as  is  thought,  about  A.D.  325,  he  asserts  that  Igna- 
tius wrote  seven  letters,  and  from  these  he  makes  a  few  quo- 
tations.' But  his  admission  of  the  genuineness  of  a  correspond- 
ence, bearing  date  upwards  of  two  hundred  years  before  his 
own  appearance  as  an  author,  is  an  attestation  of  very  doubt- 

'  Dr.  Cureton  has  shown  that  even  the  learned  Jerome  must  have  known 
very  little  of  these  letters.     "  Corpus  Ig^at.,"  Introd.,  p.  67. 
"Euseb.  iii.,  c.  36. 


TESTIMONY   OF  ORIGEN.  363 

ful  value.  He  often  makes  mistakes  respecting  the  charajcter 
of  ecclesiastical  memorials  ;  and  in  one  memorable  case,  of 
far  more  consequence  than  that  under  consideration,  he  has 
blundered  most  egregiously ;  for  he  has  published,  as  genuine, 
the  spurious  correspondence  between  Abgarus  and  our  Sav- 
iour.' He  was  under  strong  temptations  to  form  an  unduly 
favorable  judgment  of  the  letters  attributed  to  Ignatius,  inas- 
much as,  to  use  the  words  of  Dr.  Cureton,  "  they  seemed  to 
afford  evidence  to  the  apostolic  succession  in  several  churches, 
an  account  of  which  he  professes  to  be  one  of  the  chief  objects 
of  his  history.""  His  reference  to  them  is  decisive  as  to  the 
fact  of  their  existence  in  the  early  part  of  the  fourth  century ; 
but  those  who  adopt  the  views  propounded  in  the  "  Corpus  Ig- 
natianum,"  are  not  prepared  to  bow  to  his  critical  decision  ; 
for  on  this  very  occasion  he  has  given  his  sanction  to  four  let- 
ters which  they  pronounce  apocryphal. 

The  only  father  who  notices  these  letters  before  the  fourth 
century,  is  Origen.  He  quotes  from  them  twice  ;  ^  the  cita- 
tions which  he  gives  are  to  be  found  in  the  Syriac  version  of 
the  three  epistles ;  *  and  it  would  appear  from  his  writings 
that  he  was  not  acquainted  with  the  seven  letters  current  in 
the  days  of  Eusebius."     Those  to  which  he  refers  were,  per- 

'  Euseb.  i.,  c.  13.  He  describes  the  Therapeutae  of  Eg}'^pt,  a  sect  of  Jew- 
ish ascetics  mentioned  by  Philo,  as  Christians ;  and  thus  betrays  his  utter 
ignorance  of  the  history  of  Monachism,  See  Euseb.  ii.  17.  It  would  be 
easy  to  prove  that  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Eusebius  is  written  through- 
out in  the  interest  of  the  hierarchy.  When  endeavoring  to  make  out  the 
apwstolical  succession,  he  deliberately  applies  to  ministers  of  the  ist  and  2d 
centuries,  names  which  were  not  then  current,  describing  as  Bishops  per- 
sons who  were  only  known  as  Presbyters.  He  adopted  the  very  objection- 
able principle  that,  for  the  sake  of  the  Church,  we  may  prevaricate  or  de- 
ceive.    See  Waddington's  "  History  of  the  Church,"  p.  87.     London,  1833. 

'  "Corpus  Ignatianum,"  Introd.,  p.  71. 

^  Proleg.  in  "  Cantic.  Canticorum,  "  and  Homil.  vi.  in  "  Lucam." 

^  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians. 

^  He  quotes  the  words,  "  I  am  not  an  incorporeal  demon,"  from  the 
"Doctrine  of  Peter";  but  they  are  found  in  the  shorter  recension  of  the 
seven  letters  in  the  "  Epistle  to  the  Smyrnaaans,"  §  3.  Had  this  epistle 
been  known  to  him,  he  would  certainly  have  quoted  from  an  apostolic 
father  rather  than  from  a  work  which  he  knew  to  be  spurious.  Sec  Origen, 
"  Opera,"  i.,  p.  49,  note. 


364  THE   IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

haps,  brought  under  his  notice  when  he  went  to  Antioch  on 
the  invitation  of  JuHa  Mammaea,  the  mother  of  the  Emperor, 
as,  for  reasons  subsequently  to  be  stated,  it  is  probable  they 
were  manufactured  in  that  neighborhood  not  long  before  his 
visit.  If  presented  to  him  at  that  time  by  parties  interested 
in  the  recognition  of  their  claims,  they  were  exactly  such 
documents  as  were  likely  to  impose  upon  him  ;  for  the  student 
of  Philo,  and  the  author  of  the  "  Exhortation  to  Martyrdom," 
could  not  but  admire  the  spirit  of  mysticism  by  which  they 
are  pervaded,  and  the  anxiety  to  die  under  persecution  which 
they  proclaim.  Whilst,  therefore,  his  quotation  of  these  let- 
ters attests  their  existence  in  his  time,  it  is  of  very  little  ad- 
ditional value.  Again  and  again  in  his  writings  we  meet 
with  notices  of  apocryphal  works  unaccompanied  by  any  inti- 
mations of  their  spuriousness.'  He  asserts  that  Barnabas, 
the  author  of  the  epistle  still  extant  under  his  name,*  was  the 
individual  mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  as  the  com- 
panion of  Paul;  and  he  frequently  quotes,  the  "Pastor"  of 
Hermas'  as  a  book  given  by  inspiration  of  God.*  Such  facts 
abundantly  prove  that  his  recognition  of  the  Ignatian  epistles 
is  a  very  equivocal  criterion  of  their  genuineness. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  show  that  two  other  writers, 
earlier  than  Origen,  have  noticed  the  Ignatian  correspond- 
ence ;  and  Eusebius  himself  has  quoted  Polycarp  and  Ire- 
naeus  as  if  bearing  witness  in  its  favor.  Polycarp  in  early 
life  was  contemporary  with  the  pastor  of  Antioch  ;  Irenxus 
was  the  disciple  of  Polycarp;  and,  could  it  be  demonstrated 
that  either  of  these  fathers  vouched  for  its  genuineness,  the 
testimony  would  be  of  peculiar  importance.  But,  when  their 
evidence  is  examined,  it  is  found  to  be  nothing  to  the  pur- 
pose. In  the  Treatise  against  Heresies,  Irencxus  speaks,  in 
the  following  terms,  of  the  heroism  of  a  Christian  martyr, 
"  One  of  our  people  said,  when  condemned  to  the  beasts  on 
account  of  his  testimony  toward  God,  As  I  am  the  wheat  of 
God,  I  am  also  ground  by  the  teeth  of  beasts,  that  I  may  be 

'  "  Opera,"  ii.  20,  21  ;  iii.  271. 

'  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  ii.,  ciiap.  i.,  p.  334.     Ori_c:en,  "  Opera,"  iv.  473. 

■*  Ibid.,  p.  334.  *  "  Opera,"  i.  79;  iv.  683. 


QUOTATION   FROM   IREN^US.  365 

found  the  pure  bread  of  God."  '  These  words  of  the  martyr 
are  in  the  Syriac  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  hence  it  has 
been  inferred  that  they  are  a  quotation  from  that  letter.  But 
it  is  far  more  probable  that  the  words  of  the  letter  were 
copied  out  of  Irenseus,  and  quietly  appropriated,  by  a  forger, 
to  the  use  of  his  "  Ignatius,"  with  a  view  to  obtain  credit  for 
a  false  document.  The  individual  who  uttered  them  is  not 
named  by  the  pastor  of  Lyons  ;  and,  after  the  death  of  that 
writer,  a  fabricator  could  put  them  into  the  mouth  of  whom- 
soever he  pleased  without  any  special  danger  of  detection. 
The  Treatise  against  Heresies  obtained  extensive  circulation; 
and  as  it  animadverted  on  errors  which  had  been  promul- 
gated in  Antioch,''  it  soon  found  its  way  into  the  Syrian 
capital.^  But  who  can  believe  that  Irenseus  describes  Igna- 
tius, when  he  speaks  of  "  one  of  our  people  "  ?  The  martyr 
was  not  such  an  insignificant  personage  that  he  could  be  thus 
ignored.  He  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  Christians  of  his 
age — the  companion  of  apostles — and  the  presiding  minister 
of  one  of  the  most  influential  Churches  in  the  world.  Irenaeus 
is  obviously  alluding  to  some  disciple  who  occupied  a  very 
different  position.  He  is  speaking,  not  of  what  the  martyr 
wrote,  but  of  what  he  said — not  of  his  letters,  but  of  his 
words.  Any  reader  who  considers  the  situation  of  Irenaeus  a 
few  years  before  he  published  this  treatise,  can  have  no  dififi- 
culty  in  understanding  the  reference.  He  had  witnessed  at 
Lyons  one  of  the  most  terrible  persecutions  the  disciples  ever 
h^ad  endured  ;  and,  in  the  letter  to  the  Churches  of  Asia  and 
Phrygia,  he  had  graphically  described  its  horrors."  He  there 
tells  how  his  brethren  had  been  condemned  to  be  thrown  to 

'  "  Contra  Hcereses,"  lib.  v.,  c.  38,  §  4.  "  Quidam  de  nostris  dixit,  prop- 
ter martyrium  in  Deum  adjudicatus  ad  bestias  :  Quoniam  frumentum  sum 
Christi,  et  per  dentes  bestiarum  molor,  ut  mundus  panis  Dei  inveniar." 

^  Thus  lie  speaks  of  " Satuminus,  who  was  from  Antioch."  "Contra 
Hsereses,"  lib.  i.,  c.  24,  §  i. 

^  It  was  soon  translated  into  Syriac,  See  Bunsen's  "  Hippolytus,"  iv. 
Preface,  p.  8. 

♦  See  large  extracts  from  this  letter  in  Euseb.  v.,  c.  i.  Also  Routh's 
"  Reliquiag,"  i.  329. 


366  THE    IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

wild  beasts,  and  he  records  with  simpHcity  and  pathos  the 
constancy  with  which  they  suffered.  But  in  such  an  epistle 
he  could  not  notice  every  case  which  had  come  under  his  ob- 
servation, and  he  here  mentions  a  new  instance  of  the  Chris- 
tian courage  of  some  believer  unknown  to  fame,  when  he 
states,  "  One  of  our  people  when  condemned  to  the  beasts, 
said,  '  As  I  am  the  wheat  of  God,  I  am  also  ground  by  the 
teeth  of  beasts,  that  I  may  be  found  the  pure  bread  of 
God.'  " 

The  Treatise  against  Heresies  supplies  the  clearest  evi- 
dence that  Irenaeus  was  quite  ignorant  of  the  existence  of  the 
Ignatian  epistles.  These  letters  contain  pointed  references 
to  the  errorists  of  the  early  Church,  and  had  they  been  known 
to  the  pastor  of  Lyons,  he  could  have  brought  them  to  bear 
with  most  damaging  effect  against  the  heretics  he  assailed. 
Ignatius  was  no  ordinary  witness,  for  he  had  heard  the  truth 
from  the  lips  of  the  apostles  ;  he  had  spent  a  long  life  in  the 
society  of  the  primitive  disciples ;  and  he  filled  one  of  the 
most  responsible  stations  that  a  Christian  minister  could  oc- 
cupy. The  heretics  boldly  afifirmed  that  they  had  tradition 
on  their  side,'  and  therefore  the  testimony  of  Ignatius,  as  of 
an  individual  who  had  received  tradition  at  the  fountain-head, 
would  have  been  regarded  by  Irenaeus  as  all-important.  And 
the  author  of  the  Treatise  against  Heresies  was  not  slow  to 
employ  such  evidence  when  it  was-  in  any  way  available.  He 
plies  his  antagonists  with  the  testimony  of  Clement  of  Rome,' 
of  Polycarp,-'  of  Papias,*  and  of  Justin  Martyr."  But  through- 
out the  five  books  of  his  discussion  he  never  adduces  any  of 
the  words  of  the  pastor  of  Antioch.  He  never  throws  out 
any  hint  from  which  we  can  infer  that  he  was  aware  of  the 
existence  of  his  Epistles."  He  never  even  mentions  his  name. 
Could  we  desire  more  convincing  proof  that  he  had  never 
heard  of  the  Ignatian  correspondence  ? 

'  Irenaius,  "Contra  Haereses,"  lib.  iii.,  c.  2,  §§  i,  2. 

«  Lib.  iii.,  c.  3,  §§  3.  '  Lib.  iii.,  c.  iii..  §§  4. 

*  Lib.  v.,  c.  xxxiii.,  §§  3,  4.  '  Lib.  iv.,  c.  vi.,  §§  2. 

•  In  his  "  Vindiciae,"  (Pars.  i.  cap.  6,)  Pearson  attempts  to  parry  this 
argument  by  urging  that  Irenaeus  does  not  mention  other  writers,  such  as 


TESTIMONY   OF   POLYCARP.  367 

The  only  other  witness  now  remaining  to  be  examined  is 
Polycarp.  It  has  often  been  affirmed  that  he  distinctly  acknowl- 
edges the  authority  of  these  letters ;  and  yet,  when  honestly 
interrogated,  he  will  be  found  to  deliver  quite  a  different  de- 
position. But,  before  proceeding  to  consider  his  testimony, 
let  us  inquire  his  age  when  his  epistle  was  written.  It  bears 
the  following  superscription :  "  Polycarp,  and  the  elders  who  are 
with  him,  to  the  Church  of  God  which  is  at  Philippi."  At 
this  time,  therefore,  though  the  early  Christians  paid  respect 
to  hoary  hairs,  and  were  not  willing  to  permit  persons  without 
experience  to  take  precedence  of  their  seniors,  Polycarp  was 
at  the  head  of  the  presbytery.  But,  at  the  death  of  Ignatius, 
when  according  to  the  current  theory  he  dictated  this  letter, 
he  was  still  rather  a  young  man.'  Such  a  supposition  is  very 
much  out  of  keeping  with  the  tone  of  the  document.  In  it 
he  admonishes  the  widows  to  be  sober;'  he  gives  advice  to 
the  elders  and  deacons;^  he  expresses  his  great  concern  for 
Valens,  an  erring  brother,  who  had  once  been  a  presbyter 
among  them  ;*  and  he  intimates  that  the  epistle  was  written 
at  the  urgent  request  of  the  Philippians  themselves.*  Is  it  at 
all  probable  that  Polycarp,  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight,  was  in  a 
position  to  use  such  a  style  of  address  ?  Are  we  to  believe  he 
was  already  so  well  known  and  so  highly  venerated  that  a 
Christian  community  on  the  other  side  of  the  ^Egean  Sea,  and 
the  oldest  Church  in  all  Greece,  applied  to  him  for  advice  and 
direction  ?     We  must  be  prepared  to  admit  all  this,  before 

Barnabas,  Quadratus,  Aristides,  Athenagoras,  and  Theophilus.  But  the 
reply  is  obvious — i.  These  writers  were  occupied  chiefly  in  defending 
Christianity  against  the  attacks  of  paganism,  so  that  testimonies  against 
heresy  could  not  be  expected  in  their  works.  2.  None  of  them  were  so 
early  as  Ignatius,  so  that  their  testimony,  even  could  it  have  been  obtained, 
would  liave  been  of  less  value.  Some  of  them,  such  as  Theophilus,  were 
the  contemporaries  of  Irenaeus.  2.  None  of  them  held  such  an  important 
position  in  the  Church  as  Ignatius. 

'  He  was  martyred  a.d.  155,  at  the  age  of  eighty- six.  According  to  the 
"Acts  of  his  Martyrdom,"  Ignatius  was  martyred  nearly  fifty  years  before, 
or  A.D.  107.  Polycarp  was,  therefore,  now  about  thirty-eight.  See  more  par- 
ticularly Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap,  v.,  note,  and  p.  332,  note. 

'  Sec.  4.  '  Sees.  5,  6.  *  Sec.  11.  *  Sec.  3. 


368  THE    IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

we   can   acknowledge  that   his  epistle  refers  to   Ignatius  of 
Antioch. 

Let  us  attend  now  to  that  passage  in  the  letter  to  the  Phi- 
lippians  where  he  is  supposed  to  speak  of  the  Syrian  pastor. 
"  I  exhort  all  of  you  that  ye  obey  the  word  of  righteousness, 
and  exercise  all  patience,  which  ye  have  seen  set  forth  before 
your  eyes,  not  only  in  the  blessed  Ignatius,  and  Zosimus,  and 
Riifiis,  bnt  also  in  others  of  yonJ' '  These  words  suggest  to  an 
ordinary  reader  that  Polycarp  is  speaking,  not  of  Ignatius  of 
Antioch,  but  of  Ignatius  of  Philippi.  If  this  Ignatius  did  not 
belong  to  the  Philippian  Church,  why,  when  addressing  its 
members,  does  he  speak  of  Ignatius,  Zosimus,  Rufus,  and 
"  OTHERS  OF  YOU  "  ?  Ignatius  of  Antioch  could  not  have 
been  thus  described.  But  who,  it  may  be  asked,  were  Zosi- 
mus and  Rufus  here  mentioned  as  fellow-sufferers  with  Igna- 
tius ?  They  were  exactly  in  the  position  which  the  words  of 
Polycarp  literally  indicate;  they  were  men  of  Philippi ;  and, 
as  such,  they  are  commemorated  in  the  "  Martyrologies.""  It 
is  impossible,  therefore,  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  the  Igna- 
tius of  Polycarp  was  also  a  Philippian. 

It  appears,  then,  that  this  testimony  of  the  pastor  of  Smyrna 
has  been  strangely  misunderstood.  Ignatius,  as  is  well  known, 
was  not  a  very  uncommon  name;  and  several  martyrs  of  the 
ancient  Church  bore  this  designation.  Cyprian,  for  example, 
tells  us  of  an  Ignatius  in  Africa  who  was  put  to  death  for  the 
profession  of  Christianity  in  the  former  part  of  the  third  cent- 
ury. It  is  evident  from  the  words  of  Polycarp  that  there 
was  also  an  Ignatius  of  Philippi,  as  well  as  an  Ignatius  of 
Antioch. 

It  may,  however,  be  objected  that  the  conclusion  of  this  let- 
ter clearly  points  to  Ignatius  of  Antioch,  inasmuch  as  Polycarp 
speaks  of  Syria,  and  of  persons  interested  about  Ignatius  who 
might  shortly  be  going  there."     Some  critics  of  high  name 

'  oh  fi6vov  iv  To'tq  fiaKapioig  'Iyvari(f).  Kal  Zcjal/iu,  Kal  Poi''^^  liA/la  xal  tv  ulXoig  rolq 
ff  vfiiiv. — §  9. 

•^  See  Baronius,  "Annal.  ad  Annum.  109,"  torn,  ii.,  c.  48,  and  Jacobson's 
"  Pat.  Apost."  ii.  482.  note  6.     Edit.  Oxon.,  1838. 

'  Epist.  xxxiv.,  p.  109., 

*  "  Scripsistis  mihi,  el  vos  et  Ij^^atius,  ut  si  quis  vadit  ad  Syriam,  defcrat 


TESTIMONY   OF   POLYCARP.  369 

have  maintained  that  this  portion  of  the  epistle  is  destitute 
of  authority,  and  that  it  has  been  added  by  a  later  hand  to 
countenance  the  Ignatian  forgery.'  But  every  candid  and  dis- 
criminating reader  may  see  that  the  charge  is  destitute  of 
foundation.  An  Ignatian  interpolator  would  not  have  so  mis- 
managed his  business.  He  would  not  have  framed  an  appendix 
which,  as  we  shall  presently  show,  testifies  against  himself. 
The  passage  to  which  such  exception  has  been  taken  is  un- 
questionably the  true  postscript  of  the  letter,  for  it  bears 
internal  marks  of  genuineness. 

In  this  postscript  Polycarp  says,  "  What  you  know  certainly 
both  of  Ignatius  himself,  and  of  those  zuho  are  zvith  him,  com- 
municate."" Here  is  another  proof  that  the  Ignatius  of 
Polycarp  is  not  Ignatius  of  Antioch.  The  Syrian  pastor  was 
hurried  with  the  utmost  expedition  to  Rome,  that  he  might 
be  thrown  to  the  beasts  before  the  approaching  termination 
of  the  public  spectacles ;  and  when  he  reached  the  great  city, 
was  forthwith  consigned  to  martyrdom.^  But  though  letters 
had  been  meanwhile  passing  between  Philippi  and  Smyrna, 
this  Ignatius  is  still  alive.  It  would  appear,  too,  that  Zosimus 
and  Rufus,  previously  named  as  his  partners  in  tribulation, 
continued  to  be  his  companions.  Polycarp,  therefore,  is  speak- 
ing of  the  "  patience"  of  confessors  yet  *'  in  bonds,"*  and  not 
of  a  man  already  devoured  by  the  lions. 

Other  parts  of  this  postscript  are  equally  embarrassing  to 

literas  meas  quas  fecero  ad  vos."  The  Greek  of  Eusebius  is  somewhat  dif- 
ferent, but  may  express  the  same  sense.  See  Euseb.  iii.  36.  There  is  an 
important  variation  even  in  the  readings  of  Eusebius.  See  Cotelerius,  vol.  ii., 
p.  191,  note  3. 

'  Thus  Bunsen,  in  his  "  Ignatius  von  Antiochen  und  seine  Zeit,"  says, 
"  At  the  present  stand-point  of  the  criticism  of  Ignatius,  this  passage  can 
only  be  a  witness  against  itself."  And  again,  "  The  forger  of  Ignatius  has 
interpolated  this  passage."  And  again,  "  The  connection  is  entirely  broken 
by  that  interpolation."  (pp.  108,  109).  Viewed  as  a  postscript,  it  is  not 
remarkable  that  the  transition  is  abrupt. 

**  "  Et  de  ipso  Ignatio,  et  de  his  qui  cum  eo  sunt,  quod  certius  agnoveritis, 
significate." 

^  See  the  "Acts  of  his  Martyrdom,"  §§  10,  12. 

*  See  this  "  Epistle,"  §§  1,9. 
24 


370  THE   IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

those  who  contend  for  the  authority  of  the  Ignatian  EJ)istles. 
Thus  Polycarp  says,  "  The  Epistles  of  Ignatius  which  %vcre  sent 
to  you  by  him,  and  whatever  others  we  have  by  us,  we  have 
sent  to  you." '  If  these  words  apply  to  Ignatius  of  Antioch, 
it  follows  that  he  must  have  written  several  letters  to  the 
Philippiaiis ;  and  yet  it  is  now  almost  universally  admitted 
that  even  the  one  extant  epistle  addressed  to  them  in  his 
name  is  an  impudent  fabrication.  Again,  Polycarp  states, 
"  Ye  have  written  to  me,  both  ye  and  Ignatius,  that  when  any 
one  goes  to  Syria,  he  can  carry  my  letters  to  you.""  But  no 
such  suggestion  is  to  be  found,  either  in  the  Syriac  version  of 
the  Three  Epistles,  or  in  the  larger  edition  known  to  Euse- 
bius.  Could  we  desire  clearer  proof  that  Polycarp  must 
here  be  speaking  of  another  Ignatius,  and  another  corre- 
spondence? 

The  words  we  have  last  quoted  deserve  attentive  considera- 
tion. Were  a  citizen  of  New  York,  in  the  postscript  of  a  let- 
ter to  a  citizen  of  London,  to  suggest  that  his  correspondent 
should  take  an  opportunity  of  writing  to  him,  when  any  com- 
mon friend  went  to  Jerusalem,  the  Englishman  might  well 
feel  perplexed  by  such  a  communication.  Why  should  a  let- 
ter from  London  to  New  York  travel  round  by  Palestine? 
Such  an  arrangement  would  not,  however,  be  a  whit  more 
absurd  than  that  seemingly  pointed  out  in  this  postscript. 
Philippi  and  Smyrna  were  not  far  distant,  and  there  was  con- 
siderable intercourse  between  them  ;  but  Syria,  of  which  Anti- 
och was  the  capital,  was  in  another  quarter  of  the  Empire,  and 
Polycarp  could  have  rarely  found  an  individual  passing  to  it 
from  "  the  chief  city"  of  a  "part  of  Macedonia,"  and  travel- 
ling to  and  fro  by  Smyrna.  This  difficulty  admits,  however, 
of  a  very  simple  and  satisfactory  solution.    We  have  no  entire 

'  "  Epistolas  sane  Ignatii,  quae  transmissae  sunt  vobis  ab  eo,  et  alias,  quan- 
tascunqiie  apiid  nos  habuimus,  transmisimus  vobis."  According  to  the 
GiLrk  of  Eusebius  we  should  read,  "  The  letters  of  Ignatius  which  were 
sent  to  us  {i)niv)  by  him."  Either  reading  is  alike  perplexing  to  the  advo- 
cates of  the  Syriac  version  of  the  Ignatian  Epistles.  See  Jacobson,  ii,  489, 
note  5. 

'  See  a  preceding  note,  p.  369. 


TESTIMONY   OF   POLYCARP.  3/1 

copy  of  the  epistle  in  the  original  Greek/  and  the  text  of  the 
old  Latin  version  in  this  place  is  so  corrupt  that  it  is  partially- 
unintelligible ;''  but  the  context  often  aids  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  a  manuscript,  and  here  it  guides  us  to  the  meaning. 
The  place  mentioned  is  evidently  an  island  in  the  yEgean 
Sea — Syria,  Scyra,  or  Psyria' — and  the  passage  thus  under- 
stood is  quite  intelligible.  Syria,  one  of  the  Cyclades,  was 
certainly  not  on  the  direct  route  ;  but  any  one  who  glances 
at  the  map  may  see  that  a  traveller  who  carried  letters  either 
to  Scyra  or  Psyria,  conveyed  them  a  considerable  part  of  the 
way  to  Philippi ;  and  the  sentence  so  interpreted  contains 
exactly  such  a  suggestion  as  befits  a  postscript,  for  it  points 
out  how  the  correspondence  could  be  maintained.  A  letter 
left  at  Scyra  or  Psyria  was  likely  soon  to  find  a  friend  to  take 
it  on  to  Philippi. 

As  it  can  be  thus  shown  that  the  letter  of  Polycarp,  when 
tested  by  impartial  criticism,  refuses  to  accredit  the  Epistles 
ascribed  to  Ignatius  of  Antioch,  it  follows  that,  with  the  single 
exception  of  Origen,  no  father  of  the  first  three  centuries  has 
noticed  this  correspondence.  Had  these  letters,  at  the  alleged 
date  of  their  appearance,  attracted  such  attention  as  they 
themselves  indicate,  is  it  possible  that  no  writer  for  upwards 
of  a  century  after  the  demise  of  their  reputed  author,  bestowed 
upon  them  even  a  passing  recognition  ?  They  convey  the  im- 
pression that,  when  Ignatius  was  on  his  way  to  Rome,  all  Asia 

'  Only  two  Greek  copies  are  known  to  exist,  both  wanting  the  concluding 
part.     See  Cotelerius,  vol.  ii.,  p.  i86,  note  i. 

^  It  is  not  easy  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the  passage,  "  Si  habueri- 
mus  tempus  opportunum,  sive  ego,  seu  legatus  quem  misero  pro  vobis." 
Some  words  seem  to  be  wanting  to  complete  the  sense. 

'  In  the  first  edition  of  this  work  it  was  supposed  that  Smyrna  was  the 
wx)rd  in  the  original,  and  it  was  shown  that  this  very  mistake  was  made 
elsewhere  ;  but,  on  reconsideration,  the  explanation  in  the  text  has  been 
adopted  as  preferable.  The  island  of  Syros,  one  of  the  Cyclades,  was  some- 
times called  Syria  (see  Homer,  Od.  xv.  403)  ;  Scyros  was  also  known  as 
Scyra  (see  Smith's  " Dictionary  of  Ancient  Geography");  and  Psyra  was 
occasionally  written  Psyria  (see  Dunbar's  "Greek  Lexicon").  Transcribers 
frequently  confounded  letters  somewhat  similar  in  sound,  and  thus  Psyria 
would  be  written  Syria — the  2  being  put  for  *. 


372  THE    IGXATIAN   EPISTLES. 

Minor  was  moved  at  his  presence — that  Greece  caught  the 
infection  of  excitement — and  that  the  Western  capital  itself 
awaited,  with  something  like  breathless  anxiety,  the  arrival  of 
the  illustrious  martyr.  Strange,  indeed,  then,  that  even  his 
letter  to  the  Romans  is  mentioned  by  no  Western  father  until 
between  two  and  three  hundred  years  after  the  time  of  its 
assumed  publication  !  Nor  were  Western  writers  wanting  to 
sympathize  with  its  spirit.  It  would  have  been  quite  to  the 
taste  of  Tertullian,  and  he  could  have  quoted  it  to  show  that 
some  of  the  peculiar  principles  of  Montanism  had  been  held 
by  a  man  of  the  apostolic  era.  Nor  can  it  be  said  that  had 
the  letter  then  been  in  existence,  it  was  likely  to  have  escaped 
his  observation.  He  had  lived  for  years  in  Rome,  and  was  a 
presbyter  of  the  Church  of  the  Imperial  city.  A  man  of  his 
inquiring  spirit,  and  literary  habits,  must  have  been  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  Epistle  had  it  obtained  currency  in  Italy. 
But  in  not  one  of  his  numerous  treatises  does  he  ever  speak 
of  it,  or  even  name  its  alleged  author,'  Hippolytus  of  Portus 
is  another  writer  who  might  be  expected  to  know  something 
of  this  production.  He  lived  within  a  few  miles  of  Rome,  and 
he  was  conversant  with  the  history  of  its  Church  and  with  its 
ecclesiastical  memorials.  He,  as  well  as  Tertullian,  could  have 
sympathized  with  the  rugged  and  ascetic  spirit  pervading  the 
Ignatian  correspondence.  But,  even  in  his  treatise  against  all 
heresies,  he  has  not  fortified  his  arguments  by  any  testimony 
from  these  letters.  He  had  evidently  never  heard  of  the  far- 
famed  documents.' 

The  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  these  facts  is  suflficiently 
obvious.  The  Ignatian  Epistles  began  to  be  fabricated  in  the 
time  of  Origen  ;  and  the  first  edition  of  them  appeared,  not  at 

'  Pearson  alleges  that  the  reason  why  Tertullian  does  not  quote  Ignatius 
against  the  heretics  was  because  he  did  not  require  his  testimony  I  He 
had,  forsooth,  apostolic  evidence.  "  Quasi  vero  Ignatii  testimonio  opus 
esset  ad  earn  rem,  cujus  testem  Apoetolum  habuit."  "  Vindiciae,"  Pars 
prima,  caput  ix.  He  finds  it  convenient,  however,  to  mention  Hermas, 
Clement  of  Rome,  Justin  Martyr,  and  many  others. 

'  See  also  in  Euseb.  v.  28,  a  long  extract  from  a  work  against  the  heresy 
of  Artemon,  in  which  various  early  writers,  who  asserted  that  "  Christ  is 
God  and  man,"  are  named,  and  Ignatius  omitted. 


HISTORY    OF  THEIR   FABRICATION.  373 

Troas  or  Smyrna,  but  in  Syria  or  Palestine.  At  an  early 
period  festivals  were  kept  in  honor  of  the  martyrs  ;  and  on 
his  natal  day/  why  should  not  the  Church  of  Antioch  have 
something  to  tell  of  her  great  Ignatius  ?  The  Acts  of  his 
Martyrdom  were  written  in  the  former  part  of  the  third  cent- 
ury— a  time  when  the  work  of  ecclesiastical  forgery  was  rife' — 
and  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  which  is  inserted  in  these 
Acts,  is  of  earlier  date  than  any  of  the  other  letters.  The 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  perhaps,  next  made  its  appearance, 
and  then  followed  the  Epistle  to  Polycarp.  These  letters 
gradually  crept  into  circulation  as  "  The  Three  Epistles  of 
Ignatius,  Bishop  and  Martyr."  There  is  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve that,  as  edited  by  Dr.  Cureton,  they  are  now  presented 
to  the  public  in  their  original  language,  as  well  as  in  their 
original  form.  Copies  of  these  short  letters  are  not  known  to 
be  extant  in  any  manuscript  either  Greek  or  Latin.  Dr.  Cure- 
ton  has  not  attempted  any  explanation  of  this  emphatic  fact. 
If  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  in  its  newly  discovered  form,  is 
genuine,  how  does  it  happen  that  there  are  no  previous  traces 
of  its  existence  in  the  Western  Church  ?  How  are  we  to  ac- 
count for  the  extraordinary  circumstance  that  the  Church  of 
Rome  can  produce  no  copy  of  it  in  either  Greek  or  Latin  ? 
She  had  every  reason  to  preserve  such  a  document  had  it  ever 
come  into  her  possession  ;  for,  even  considered  as  a  pious 
fraud  of  the  third  century,  the  address  ^^  to  her  wJio  sitteth  at 
the  head  in  the  place  of  the  country  of  the  Romans," '  is  one 

'  See  Neander's  "  General  History,"  by  Torrey,  i.  455.  Octavo  edition. 
Edinburg^h,  1847.     See  also  Kaye's  "  Tertullian,"  p.  415. 

"  The  number  of  spurious  writings  current  in  the  early  ages  was  very 
great.  Shortly  after  the  date  mentioned  in  the  text  it  is  well  known  that 
an  individual  named  Leucius  forged  the  Acts  of  John,  Andrew,  Peter,  and 
others.     See  Jones  on  the  "  Canon,"  p.  210,  and  ii.,  p.  289. 

*  This  is  a  literal  translation  of  part  of  the  superscription  of  the  letter  as 
given  by  Dr.  Cureton  himself  in  his  "  Epistles  of  Saint  Ignatius,"  p.  17.  In 
the  "  Corpus  Ignatianum  "  he  has  somewhat  weakened  the  strength  of  the 
expression  by  a  more  free  translation — "  To  her  who  presideth  in  the  place 
of  the  country  of  the  Romans."  "  Corp.  Ignat.,"  p.  230.  Tertullian  speaks 
("  De  Prsscrip.,"  c.  36)  of  the  "  Apostolic  sees  presiding  over  their  own 
places" — referring  to  an  arrangement  then  recently  made  which  recognized 


374  THE    IGNATIAN    EPISTLES. 

of  the  most  ancient  testimonies  to  her  early  pre-eminence  to 
be  found  in  the  whole  range  of  ecclesiastical  literature.  Why- 
should  she  have  permitted  it  to  be  supplanted  by  an  interpo- 
lated document  ?  Can  any  man,  who  adopts  the  views  of  Dr. 
Cureton,  fairly  answer  such  an  inquiry  ? 

The  mistake  of  a  name  in  the  postscript  of  the  Epistle  of 
Polycarp  has  had  much  to  do  with  this  Ignatian  imposture. 
An  island  in  the  ^gean  Sea  has  been  confounded  with  Syria, 
the  Eastern  Province ;  and  the  error  has  led  to  the  incubation  of 
the  whole  brood  of  Ignatian  letters.  The  blunder  was  adopted 
by  Eusebius,'  and  from  him  passed  into  general  currency. 
We  may  thus  best  account  for  the  strange  multiplication  of 
these  Ignatian  Epistles.  It  was  clear  that  the  Ignatius  spoken 
of  by  Polycarp  had  written  more  letters  than  what  first  ap- 
peared,^ and  thus  the  epistles  to  the  Smyrnaeans,  the  Magne- 
sians,  the  Trallians,  and  the  Philadelphians,  in  due  time 
emerged  into  notice.  At  a  subsequent  date  the  letters  to  the 
Philippians,  the  Antiochians,  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  others, 
were  forthcoming. 

The  variety  of  forms  assumed  by  this  Ignatian  fraud  is  not 
the  least  remarkable  circumstance  connected  with  its  myste- 
rious history.  All  the  seven  Epistles  mentioned  by  Eusebius 
exist  in  a  Longer  and  a  Shorter  Recension  ;  whilst  the  Syriac 
version  exhibits  three  of  them  in  a  reduced  size,  and  another 
edition.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  other  spurious  productions 
display  similar  transformations.  "A  great  7iumber  of  spurious 
or  interpolated  works  of  the  early  ages  of  Christianity,"  says 
Dr.  Cureton,  "  are  found  in  two  recensions,  a  Shorter  and  a 
Longer,  as  in  the  instance  of  the  Ignatian  Epistles.  Thus, 
we  find  the  two  Recensions  of  the  Clementines,  the  two  Re- 
censions of  the  Acts  of  St.  Andrew,  ....  the  Acts  of  St. 

the  precedence  of  Churches  to  which  Apostles  had  ministered.  This  ar- 
rangement, which  was  unknown  in  the  time  of  Ignatius,  was  suggested  by 
the  disturbances  and  divisions  created  by  the  heretics.  Though  the  words 
in  the  text  may  be  quoted  in  support  of  the  claims  of  the  bishop  of  Rome, 
they  do  not  necessarily  imply  his  presidency  over  all  Churches,  but  they 
plainly  acknowledge  his  position  as  at  the  head  of  the  Churches  of  Italy. 
'  See  Euseb.  iii.  36.  '  See  preceding  note,  p.  370. 


VAraous  recensions.  375 

Thomas,  the  Journeying  of  St.  John,  the  Letter  of  Pilate  to 
Tiberius."  '  It  is  still  more  suspicious  that  some  of  these 
spurious  writings  present  a  striking  similarity  in  point  of  style 
to  the  Ignatian  Epistles."  The  standard  coin  of  the  realm  is 
seldom  put  into  the  crucible,  but  articles  of  pewter  or  of  lead 
are  freely  melted  down  and  recast  according  to  the  will  of  the 
modeller.  We  can  not  add  a  single  leaf  to  a  genuine  flower, 
but  an  artificial  rose  may  be  exhibited  in  quite  another  form 
by  a  fresh  process  of  manipulation.  Such,  too,  has  been  the 
history  of  ancient  ecclesiastical  records.  The  genuine  works 
of  the  fathers  have  come  down  to  us  in  a  state  of  wonderful 
preservation ;  and  comparatively  few  attempts  have  been 
made,  by  interpolation  or  otherwise,  to  interfere  with  their  in- 
tegrity;^ but  spurious  productions  were  considered  legitimate 
subjects  for  the  exercise  of  the  art  of  the  fabricator ;  and  hence 
the  strange  discrepancies  in  their  text  which  have  so  often 
puzzled  their  editors. 

'  "  Corpus  Ignatianum,"  Intro.,  p.  86,  note. 
^  See  "  Cqrpus  Ignatianum,"  pp.  265,  267,  269,  271,  286. 
^  See  Blunt's  "  Right  Use  of  the  Early  Fathers."     First  Series.     Lectures 
V.  and  vi. 


CHAPTER   III.      • 

THE   IGNATIAN    EPISTLES   AND    TtlEIR    CLAIMS. 
THE    INTERNAL    EVIDENCE. 

The  history  of  the  Ignatian  Epistles  may  well  remind  us 
of  the  story  of  the  Sibylline  Books.  A  female  in  strange  at- 
tire appeared  before  Tarquin  of  Rome,  offering  to  sell  nine 
manuscripts  she  had  in  her  possession ;  but  the  king,  dis- 
couraged by  the  price,  declined  the  application.  The  woman 
withdrew;  destroyed  the  one-third  of  her  literary  treasures ; 
and,  returning  again  into  the  royal  presence,  demanded  the 
same  price  for  what  were  left.  The  monarch  once  more  re- 
fused to  come  up  to  her  terms ;  and  the  mysterious  visitor  re- 
tired again,  and  burnt  the  one-half  of  her  remaining  store. 
Her  extraordinary  conduct  excited  much  astonishment;  and, 
on  consulting  with  his  augurs,  Tarquin  was  informed  that  the 
documents  she  had  at  her  disposal  were  most  valuable,  and 
that  he  should  by  all  means  endeavor  to  secure  such  a  prize. 
The  king  now  willingly  paid  for  the  three  books  not  yet  com- 
mitted to  the  flames,  the  full  price  originally  demanded  for 
all  the  manuscripts.  The  Ignatian  Epistles  have  experienced 
something  like  the  fate  of  the  Sibylline  oracles.  In  the  six- 
teenth century,  fifteen  letters  were  brought  out  from  beneath 
the  mantle  of  a  hoary  antiquity,  and  offered  to  the  world  as 
the  productions  of  the  pastor  of  Antioch.  Scholars  refused 
to  receive  them  on  the  terms  required,  and  forthwith  eight  of 
them  were  admitted  to  be  forgeries.  In  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  seven  remaining  letters,  in  a  somewhat  altered 
form,  again  came  forth  from  obscurity,  and  claimed  to  be  the 
works  of  Ignatius.  Again,  discerning  critics  refused  to  ac- 
(376) 


THE   CURETONIAN   VERSION.  377 

knowledge  their  pretensions/  but  curiosity  was. roused  by  this 
second  apparition,  and  many  expressed  an  earnest  desire  to 
obtain  a  sight  of  the  real  epistles.  Greece,  Syria,  Palestine, 
and  Egypt  were  ransacked  in  search  of  them,  and  at  length 
three  letters  are  found.  The  discovery  creates  general  gratu- 
lation ;  it  is  confessed  that  four  of  the  Epistles,  so  lately  as- 
serted to  be  genuine,  are  apocryphal ;  and  it  is  boldly  said 
that  the  three  now  forthcoming  are  above  challenge."  But 
Truth  still  refuses  to  be  compromised,  and  sternly  disowns 
these  claimants  for  her  approbation.  The  internal  evidence 
of  these  three  Epistles  abundantly  attests  that,  like  the  last 
three  books  of  the  Sibyl,  they  are  only  the  last  shifts  of  a 
grave  imposture.^ 

The  candid  investigator,  who  compares  the  Curetonian 
version  of  the  letters  with  that  previously  in  circulation,  must 
acknowledge  that  Ignatius,  in  his  new  dress,  has  lost  nothing 
of  his  absurdity  and  extravagance.  The  passages  of  the 
Epistles,  formerly  felt  to  be  so  objectionable,  are  yet  to  be 
found  here  in  all  their  unmitigated  folly.  Ignatius  is  still  the 
same  anti-evangelical  formalist,  the  same  puerile  boaster,  the 
same  dreaming  mystic,  and  the  same  crazy  fanatic.  These 
are  weighty  charges,  and  yet  they  can  be  substantiated.  But 
we  must  enter  into  details,  that  we  may  fairly  exhibit  the 
spirit,  and  expose  the  falsehood  of  these  letters. 

I.  The  style  of  the  Epistles  is  certainly  not  above  suspicion. 

1  The  Master  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge — the  prince  of  English  critics 
— rejected  the  defence  of  these  letters  published  nearly  half  a  century  before 
by  Pearson.  In  1718  "Cambridge  was  in  a  great  ferment  on  account  of 
Dr.  Bentley  having,  on  occasion  of  a  Divinity  Act,  made  a  speech  condemn' 
ing  the  Epistles  of  St.  Ignatius." — Life  of  Richard  Bentley,  D.D.,  by  J. 
H.  Monk,  D.D.,  Lord  Bishop  of  Gloucester.^  ii.  44,  note,  2d  edit, 

"^  It  would  be  very  unfair  to  follow  up  this  comparison  by  speaking  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  British  Museum  as  the  representatives  of  hierarchal  pride 
and  power,  proceeding,  like  Tarquin  at  the  instigation  of  his  augurs,  to  give 
a  high  price  for  the  manuscripts.  These  gentlemen  have  rendered  good 
service  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  literature  by  the  purchase. 

3  Bunsen  rather  reluctantly  admits  that  the  highest  literary  authority  of 
the  present  century,  the  late  Dr.  Neander,  declined  to  recognize  even  the 
Syriac  version  of  the  Ignatian  Epistles.  See  "  Hippolytus  and  his  Age,"  iv. 
Preface,  p.  26. 


378  THE   IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

On  the  ground  of  style  alone,  it  is,  unquestionably,  hazardous 
to  pronounce  a  decisive  judgment  on  any  document ;  but,  if 
such  an  element  is  ever  to  be  taken  into  consideration,  it  can 
not,  in  this  case,  be  overlooked.  Of  the  seven  epistles  men- 
tioned by  Eusebius,  there  was  one  which  scholars  of  the  high- 
est reputation  always  challenged  as  counterfeit.  In  style  it 
appeared  to  them  so  different  from  the  rest  of  the  letters,  and 
so  unlike  what  was  to  be  expected  from  an  apostolic  minister, 
that  some  who  were  prepared  to  admit  the  genuineness  of  the 
other  documents,  did  not  hesitate  to  declare  it  a  forgery.  We 
allude  to  the  Epistle  to  Polycarp.  Even  Archbishop  Ussher 
and  Cardinal  Bona'  concurred  in  its  condemnation.  It  so 
happens,  however,  that  it  is  one  of  the  three  letters  recently 
re-edited  ;  and  that,  of  the  three,  it  has  bcc7i  the  least  altered. 
If,  then,  such  a  man  as  Ussher  be  considered  a  safe  and  suffi- 
cient judge  of  the  value  of  an  ancient  ecclesiastical  memorial, 
the  Epistle  to  Polycarp,  published  by  Dr.  Cureton,  must  be 
pronounced  spurious.  Their  editor  urges  that  the  letters  to 
the  Ephesians  and  Romans,  as  expurgated  in  the  Syriac 
version,  now  closely  resemble  the  Epistle  to  Polycarp,  in  style  ; 
and,  if  so,  may  we  not  fairly  infer  that,  had  they  been  pre- 
sented, in  their  new  form,  to  the  learned  Primate  of  Armagh, 
consistency  should  have  bound  him  to  denounce  them  also  as 
forgeries  ? 

II.  The  way  in  which  the  Word  of  God  is  ignored  in  these 
Epistles  argues  strongly  for  their  spuriousness.  Every  one 
acquainted  with  the  early  fathers  has  observed  their  frequent 
use  of  the  sacred  records.  A  considerable  portion  of  a  chap- 
ter is  sometimes  introduced  in  a  quotation.^  Hence  were  all 
the  copies  of  the  Bible  lost  and  the  writings  of  these  fathers 
preserved,  a  large  share  of  the  Holy  Volume  could  be  recov- 
ered. But  Ignatius  would  contribute  nothing  to  the  work  of 
restoration  ;  as,  in  the  whole  of  the  three  letters,  not  a  single 

'  See  "  Corpus  Ignat."  Introd.,  p.  51. 

»  Thus,  in  his  "  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,"  Clemens  Romanus,  on  one 
occasion  (§  16),  quotes  the  whole  of  the  53d  chapter  of  Isaiah  ;  and,  on  an- 
other (§  18),  the  whole  of  the  51st  Psalm,  with  the  exception  of  the  last  two 
verses. 


THE   WORD   OF   GOD   IGNORED.  379 

verse  of  Scripture  is  given  at  length.  They,  no  doubt,  oc- 
casionally use  Bible  phraseology,  as  without  it  an  ecclesias- 
tical document  could  not  well  be  written  ;  but  not  one  promise 
is  quoted,  and  not  one  testimony  from  the  Word  is  repeated 
for  the  edification  of  the  faithful/  An  apostolic  pastor  on  his 
way  to  martyrdom  would  have  written  very  differently.  He 
would  have  reminded  his  brethren  of  the  "  lively  oracles,"  and 
mentioned  some  of  those  precious  assurances  which  contributed 
to  his  own  spiritual  refreshment.  He  would  have  told  them 
to  have  "  no  confidence  in  the  flesh' V  to  take  unto  themselves 
"the  sword  of  the  Spirit  which  is  the  Word  of  God";"'  and  to 
lay  aside  every  weight  and  the  sin  which  did  so  easily  beset 
them,  "  looking  unto  Jesus!'  *  But,  instead  of  adopting  such 
a  course,  this  Ignatius  addressed  them  in  the  style  of  a  starched 
and  straitlaced  churchman.  "  Let  your  treasures,"  says  he, 
"  be  your  good  works.  Let  your  baptism  be  to  you  as 
armory."  "  Look  to  the  bishop  that  God  also  may  look  upon 
you.  I  will  be  instead  of  the  souls  of  those  who  are  subject 
to  the  bishop,  and  the  presbyters  and  the  deacons."  '  What 
intelligent  Christian  can  believe  that  a  minister,  instructed  by 

'  How  different  from  the  course  pursued  by  Clement  of  Rome  and  by 
Polycarp  !  Thus  Clement  says  to  the  Corinthians,  "  Let  us  do  as  it  is 
written,"  and  then  goes  on  to  quote  several  passages  of  Scripture.  §  13. 
Polycarp  says,  "  I  trust  that  ye  are  well  exercised  in  the  Holy  Scriptures," 
and  then  proceeds,  like  Clement,  to  make  some  quotations.    §  12. 

2  Phil.  iii.  3.  ^  Eph.  vi,  17.  *  Heb.  xii.  i,  2. 

'"  Epistle  to  Polycarp."  Lest  the  plain  English  reader  should  believe 
that  the  folly  of  the  original  is  exaggerated  in  the  translation,  I  beg  to  say 
that,  here  and  elsewhere,  the  English  version  of  Dr.  Cureton  is  given  word 
for  word.  After  an  elaborate  attempt  to  vindicate  the  claims  of  the  Cure- 
tonian  letters.  Bishop  Lightfoot  thus  speaks  of  the  seven  Epistles  of  Euse- 
bius  :  "  As  regards  the  substances  they  contain,  many  extravagances  of  sen- 
timent and  teaching,  more  especially  relating  to  the  episcopal  offices  front 
which  the  Curetonian  letters  are  free,  and  which  one  would  not  wilHttgly 
believe  written  by  the  saint  himself."  Contemporary  Review  for  Feb.,  1875, 
p.  358.  The  quotation  in  the  text,  which  is  from  the  Curetonian  version, 
attests  that  there  is  no  ground  for  the  Bishop's  exception  in  its  favor.  In 
his  articles  in  the  Contemporary  Review  he  does  not  notice,  much  less  grap- 
ple with,  the  criticisms  in  these  chapters. 


380  THE   TGNATIAN    EPISTLES. 

Paul  or  Peter,  and  filling  one  of  the  most  important  stations 
in  the  Apostolic  Church,  was  verily  such  an  ignorant  driveller? 
III.  The  chronological  blunders  in  these  Epistles  betray 
their  forgery.  In  the  "Acts  of  the  Martyrdom  of  Ignatius," 
he  and  Polycarp  are  represented  as  "  fellow  scholars  "  of  the 
Apostle  John/  and  the  pastor  of  Smyrna  is  supposed  to  be, 
in  point  of  age,  at  least  as  venerable  a  personage  as  the  pastor 
of  Antioch.  The  letter  to  Polycarp  is  evidently  written  under 
the  same  impression.  Ignatius  there  says  to  him,  "  I  praise 
God  that  I  have  been  deemed  zuorthy  of  thy  count enancey 
which  in  God  I  long  after."  When  these  words  are  sup- 
posed to  have  been  penned,  Polycarp  was  only  about  eight 
and  thirty  years  of  age ; '  and  the  Church  of  Smyrna,  with 
which  he  was  connected,  did  not  occupy  a  very  prominent 
place  in  the  Christian  commonwealth.  Is  it  credible  that  a 
man  of  the  mature  faith  and  large  experience  of  Ignatius  thus 
addressed  so  youthful  a  minister?  It  is  also  passing  strange 
that  the  aged  martyr  committed  all  the  widows  of  the  com- 
munity to  his  special  guardianship,  and  thought  it  necessary 
to  add,  "  It  is  becoming  to  men  and  women  who  marry,  that 
they  marry  by  the  counsel  of  the  bishop!'  Was  an  individual, 
who  was  himself  still  comparatively  young,  the  most  fitting 
person  to  give  advice  as  to  these  matrimonial  engagements  ? 
A  similar  mistake  as  to'age  is  made  in  the  case  of  Onesimus, 
who  is  supposed  to  be  bishop  of  Ephesus.  This  minister,  who 
is  understood  to  be  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,^  is  said 
at  an  early  date  to  have  been  pastor  of  the  Church  of  the 
metropolis  of  the  Proconsular  Asia ;  and  the  Ignatian  forger 
obviously  imagined  that  he  was  still  alive  when  his  hero  passed 
through  Smyrna  on  his  way  to  the  Western  capital.  But 
Onesimus  perished  in  the  Domitian  persecution,*  so  that  Ig- 
natius is  made  to  write  to  a  Christian  brother  who  had  been 
long  in  his  grave."     The  fabricator  proceeds  more  cautiously 

'  Sec.  8.  '  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  ii.,  chap,  ii.,  p.  367. 

'  Epistle  to  Philemon,  10.  *  See  Daill6,  lib.  ii.,  c.  13,  p.  316. 

'  According  to  some  accounts,  Timothy  presided  over  the  Church  of 
Ephesus  until  nearly  the  close  of  the  first  century,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  Gaius.     See  Daille,  ii.,  c.  13.    Some  attempt  to  get  over  the  difficulty  by 


THE   ROMAN   CHURCH.  381 

in  his  letter  to  the  Romans.  How  marvellous  that  this  old 
gentleman,  who  is  willing  to  pledge  his  soul  for  every  one  who 
would  submit  to  the  bishop,  does  not  find  it  convenient  to 
name  the  bishop  of  Rome !  The  experiment  would  have  been 
somewhat  hazardous.  The  early  history  of  the  Roman  Church 
was  better  known  than  that  of  any  other  in  the  world,  and, 
had  he  here  made  a  mistake,  the  whole  cheat  might  have  been 
at  once  detected.  Though  his  erudition  was  so  great  that  he 
could  tell  "  the  places  of  angels," '  he  evidently  did  not  dare 
to  commit  himself  by  giving  us  a  piece  of  earthly  information, 
and  by  telling  us  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  Church  of  the 
Great  City  in  the  ninth  year  of  the  reign  of  Trajan.  But  the 
same  prudence  does  not  prevail  throughout  the  Epistle.  He 
here  obviously  speaks  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  not  as  she  ex- 
isted a  few  years  after  the  death  of  Clement,  but  of  the  same 
Church  as  she  was  known  after  the  death  of  Victor.  In  the 
beginning  of  the  second  century  the  Church  of  the  Syrian 
capital  did  not  acknowledge  the  precedence  of  her  Western 
sister.  On  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  the  Church  of  Antioch  was 
herself  the  first  Christian  community  in  the  Empire.  She  had 
a  higher  antiquity,  a  more  distinguished  prestige,  and  perhaps 
a  more  numerous  membership  than  any  other  Church  in  ex- 
istence. In  the  Syrian  metropolis  the  disciples  had  first  been 
called  Christians ;  there,  Barnabas  and  Paul  had  been  sepa- 
rated to  the  work  to  which  the  Lord  had  called  them ;  there, 
Peter  had  preached ;  and  there,  prophets  had  labored.  But  a 
century  had  brought  about  a  wonderful  change.  The  Church 
of  Rome  had  meanwhile  obtained  the  first  place  among  Chris- 
tian societies ;  and,  about  the  middle  of  the  third  century, 
"  the  See  of  Peter "  began  to  be  honored  as  the  centre  of 
Catholic  unity.  Toward  the  close  of  the  second  century, 
many  persons  of  rank  and  power  joined  her  communion,'  and 

alleging-  that  there  was  a  second  Orv^^xmas  in  Ephesus,  who  succeeded  Gaius, 
but  of  this  there  is  no  evidence  whatever.  The  writer  who  thought  that 
Ignatius  had  been  at  school  with  Polycarp,  also  believed,  and  with  greater 
reason,  that  he  was  contemporary-  with  the  Onesimus  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

'  "  Epistle  to  the  Romans."  «  Euseb.  v.  21. 


382  THE   IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

her  political  influence  was  soon  felt  to  be  so  formidable  that 
even  the  Roman  Emperor  began  to  be  jealous  of  the  Roman 
bishop.'  But  the  Ignatian  forger  did  not  take  into  account 
this  ecclesiastical  revolution.  Hence  he  here  incautiously 
speaks  in  the  language  of  his  own  age,  and  writing  "  to  her 
who  sitteth  at  the  head  in  the  place  of  the  country  of  the  Ro- 
mans," he  says  to  her,  with  all  due  humility,  "  I  am  not  com- 
manding you  like  Peter  and  Paul  "  " — "  Ye  have  taught  others" 
— "  It  is  easy  for  you  to  do  whatsoever  you  please." 

IV.  Various  words  in  these  Epistles  have  a  meaning  which 
they  did  not  acquire  till  long  after  the  time  of  Ignatius. 
Thus,  the  term  employed  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles  to  de- 
note p2trity,  or  chastity,  here  signifies  celibacy.^  Even  in  the 
commencement  of  the  third  century  those  who  led  a  single 
life  were  beginning  to  be  considered  Christians  of  a  superior 
type,  as  contrasted  with  those  who  were  married  ;  and  clerical 
celibacy  was  becoming  very  fashionable.*  The  Ignatian  fab- 
ricator writes  under  the  influence  of  the  popular  sentiment. 
"The  house  of  the  Church"  at  Antioch,  of  which  Paul  of 
Samosata  kept  possession   after  his  deposition  in  A.D.  269,' 

'  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  i.,  chap,  v.,  p.  322. 

^  Paul  was  certainly  at  Rome,  but  Peter's  presence  there  is  not  so  clear. 
According  to  the  reading  of  some  copies  of  Irenaeus,  in  the  celebrated  pas- 
sage, lib.  iii.,  c.  3,  §  2,  the  Church  of  Rome  is  said  to  have  been  founded  by 
"  Paul  and  Peter  "  (see  Stieren's  "  Irensus,"  i.  428)  ;  but  Ignatius  here  uses 
the  style  of  expression  current  in  the  third  century,  and  speaks  of  "Peter 
and  Paul." 

'  In  the  Epistle  to  Polycarp,  Ignatius  says,  "  If  a  man  be  able  in  strength 
to  continue  in  chastity  (/>.,  celibacy), /i^r  the  honor  of  the  boly  of  our  Lord. 
let  him  continue  without  boasting."  Here  the  word  in  the  Greek  is  ayvtia. 
But  this  word  is  applied  in  the  New  Testament  to  Timothy,  who  may  have 
been  "the  husband  of  one  wife."  See  i  Tim.  iv.  12,  and  v.  2.  It  is  also 
applied  by  Polycarp,  in  his  Epistle,  to  married  women.  "  Let  us  teach  your 
(or  our)  wives  to  walk  in  the  faith  that  is  given  to  them,  both  /'//  love  and 
purity"  {iiyd-i)  mi  dyi'tia). — Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  §  4.  See  also  "  The 
Shepherd  of  Hermas,"  book  ii.,  command.  4  ;  Coteierius,  i.  %"]. 

*  This  is  very  evident  from  the  recently  discovered  work  of  Hippolytus.  as 
well  as  from  other  writers  of  the  same  period.  See  Bunsen's  "  Hippolytus," 
t.  p.  312. 

'  Euseb.  vii.  30. 


THE   WORD   "BISHOP."  383 

seems  to  have  been  a  dwelling  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the 
ecclesiastical  functionaries,'  and  the  schemer  who  wrote  the 
first  draft  of  these  letters  evidently  believed  that  the  ministers 
of  Christ  were  a  brotherhood  of  bachelors.  Hence  Ignatius 
is  made  thus  to  address  Polycarp  and  his  clergy,  "  Labor  to- 
gether one  with  another ;  make  the  struggle  together  one  with 
another;  run  together  one  with  another;  suffer  together  one 
with  another;  sleep  together  one  with  another ;  rise  togetJier  one 
with  another.''  Polycarp  and  others  of  the  elders  of  Smyrna 
were  probably  married ;  ^  so  that  some  inconvenience  might 
have  attended  this  arrangement. 

The  word  bishop  is  another  term  found  in  these  Epistles, 
and  employed  in  a  sense  which  it  did  not  possess  at  the  al- 
leged date  of  their  publication.  Every  one  knows  that,  in  the 
New  Testament,  it  does  not  signify  the  chief  pastor  of  a 
Church ;  but,  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  as  will 
subsequently  appear,'  it  began  to  have  this  acceptation. 
Clement  of  Rome,  writing  a  few  years  before  the  time  of  the 
martyrdom  of  Ignatius,  uses  the  words  bishop  and  presbyter 
interchangeably.'  Polycarp,  in  his  own  Epistle,  dictated  up- 
wards of  forty  years  after  the  death  of  the  Syrian  pastor,  still  ad- 
heres to  the  same  phraseology."  In  the  Peshito  version  of  the 
New  Testament,  executed  probably  in  the  former  half  of  the 

'  Some  have  supposed  that  this  was  the  church  of  Antioch,  but  it  is  not 
likely  that  Paul  cared  to  retain  the  church  when  deserted  by  the  people. 
Besides,  the  building  is  called,  not  the  church,  but  "  the  house  of  the 
Church"  (r?/f  (KKATialac  oiko().  In  the  Life  of  Augustine,  by  Possidius  (cap. 
xxiv.),  the  building  in  which  the  clergy  resided  is  called  "  Domus  ecclesise." 
August,  opera  i.  53.  Edit.  Migne,  1861.  See  also  Todd's  "  St.  Patrick,"  477, 
Dublin,  1864. 

-  If  the  reading  adopted  by  Junius,  and  others,  of  a  passage  in  the  4th 
chapter  of  his  Epistle  be  correct,  Polycarp  must  have  been  a  married  man, 
and  probably  had  a  family.  "  Let  us  teach  our  wives  to  walk  in  the  faith 
that  is  given  to  them,  both  in  love  and  purity,  ....  and  to  bring  itp  their 
children  in  the  instruction  and  fear  of  the  Lord."  See  Jacobson's  "  Pat. 
Apost."  ii.  472,  note. 

2  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap.  vii. 

*  See  his  "  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,"  c.  42,  44,  47,  54. 

'  It  is  employed  likewise  by  Papias  (see  Euseb.  iii.  39),  and  even  by  Ire- 
nseus  (Euseb.  v.  20). 


384  THE   IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

second  century,'  the  same  terminology  prevails."  Ignatius, 
however,  is  far  in  advance  of  his  generation.  When  new  terms 
are  introduced,  or  when  new  meanings  are  attached  to  desig- 
nations already  current,  it  seldom  happens  that  an  old  man 
changes  his  style  of  speaking.  He  is  apt  to  persevere,  in 
spite  of  fashion,  in  the  use  of  the  phraseology  to  which  he 
has  been  accustomed  from  his  childhood.  But  Ignatius  is  an 
exception  to  all  such  experience,  for  he  repeats  the  new  no- 
menclature with  as  much  flippancy  as  if  he  had  never  heard 
any  other.'  Surely  this  minister  of  Antioch  is  worthy  of  all 
the  celebrity  he  has  attained,  for  he  can  not  only  carry  on  a 
written  correspondence  with  the  dead,  but  also  anticipate  by 
half  a  century  even  the  progress  of  language ! 

V.  The  puerilities,  vaporing,  and  mysticism  of  these  letters 
proclaim  their  forgery.  We  expect  an  aged  apostolic  minister, 
on  his  way  to  martyrdom,  to  speak  as  a  man  in  earnest,  to  ex- 
press himself  with  some  degree  of  dignity,  and  to  eschcA^ 
trivial  and  ridiculous  comparisons.  But,  when  treating  of  a 
grave  subject,  what  can  be  more  silly  or  indecorous  than  such 
language  as  the  following :  "  Ye  are  raised  on  high  by  the  en- 
gine of  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  the  cross,  and  ye  are  drawn  by 
the  rope,  which  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  your  pulley  is  your 
faith."*  Well  may  the  Christian  reader  exclaim,  with  indig- 
nation, as  he  peruses  these  words,  Is  the  Holy  Ghost  then  a 
mere  rope?  Is  that  glorious  Being  who  worketh  in  us  to  will 
and  to  do  according  to  His  own  good  pleasure,  a  mere  piece  of 

'  See  Westcott  on  the  "Canon,"  pp.  262,  264,  265. 

"  "  In  the  estimation  of  those  able  and  apostolical  men  who,  in  the  second 
century,  prepared  the  Syriac  version  of  the  New  Testament  for  the  use  of 
some  of  the  Oriental  Churches,  the  bishop  and  presbyter  of  the  apostolic 
ordination  were  titles  of  the  same  individual.  Hence  in  texts  wherein  the 
Greek  word  episcopos,  '  bishop,'  occurs,  it  is  rendered  in  their  version  by  the 
Syriac  word  '  Kashisha,'  presbyter."  —  Etheridges  Syrian  Churches  and 
Gospels,  pp.  102,  103. 

'  The  use  of  the  word  catholic  in  the  "  Seven  Epistles,"  edited  by  Ussher, 
is  sufficient  to  discredit  them.  See  "  Epist.  to  Smyrnaeans,"  §  8.  The  word 
did  not  come  into  use  until  toward  the  close  of  the  second  century.  See 
Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap,  viii.,  and  p.  306,  note. 

*  "  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians." 


ANXIETY   FOR   MARTYRDOM.  385 

tackling  pertaining  to  the  ecclesiastical  machinery,  to  be  moved 
and  managed  according  to  the  dictation  of  Bishop  Ignatius?' 
But  the  frivolity  of  this  impostor  is  equalled  by  his  gasconade. 
He  thus  tantalizes  the  Romans  with  an  account  of  his  attain- 
ments, "  I  am  able  to  write  to  you  heavenly  things,  but  I  fear 
lest  I  should  do  you  mi  injury^  .  ..."  I  am  able  to  know 
heavenly  things,  and  the  places  of  angels,  and  the  station  of 
powers  that  are  visible  and  invisible."  Where  did  he  gather 
all  this  recondite  lore?  Certainly  not  from  the  Old  or  New 
Testament.  May  we  not  safely  pronounce  this  man  to  be  one 
who  seeks  to  be  wise  above  what  is  written,  "  intruding  into 
those  things  which  he  hath  not  seen,  vainly  puffed  up  by  his 
fleshly  mind  "?*  He  seems,  indeed,  to  have  himself  had  some 
suspicion  that  such  was  his  character,  for  he  says,  again,  to  his 
brethren  of  the  Western  metropolis,  "  I  know  many  things  in 
God,  but  I  moderate  myself  that  I  may  not  perish  through 
boasting ;  for  now  it  is  becoming  to  me  that  I  should  fear  the 
more  abundantly,  and  should  not  look  to  those  that  puff  me  up.'' 
Let  us  now  hear  a  specimen  of  the  mysticism  of  this  dotard. 
"There  was  hidden  from  the  Ruler  of  this  world  the  virginity 
of  Mary,  and  the  birth  of  our  Lord,  and  the  three  mysteries 
of  the  shout,  which  were  done  in  the  quietness  of  God  by 
means  of  the  star,  and  here  by  the  manifestation  of  the  Son 
magic  began  to  be  dissolved."  '  Who  can  undertake  to  expound 
such  jargon  ?  What  are  we  to  understand  by  "  the  quietness 
of  God"?  Who  can  tell  how  "the  three  mysteries  of  the 
shout  "  were  "  done  by  means  of  the  star  "  ? 

VL  The  unhallowed  and  insane  anxiety  for  martyrdom  which 
appears  throughout  these  letters  is  another  decisive  proof  of 
their  fabrication.  He  who  was,  in  the  highest  sense,  the 
Faithful  Witness  betrayed  no  fanatic  impatience  for  the  horrid 
tragedy  of  crucifixion;  and,  true  to  the  promptings  of  His 

'  Daille  has  well  observed,  "  Funi  Dei  quidem  verbum,  ministerium, 
beneficia  non  inepte  comparaveris  ;  Spiritum  vero,  qui  his,  ut  sic  dicarr),- 
divinae  benignitatis  funiculis,  ad  nos  movendos  et  attrahendos  utitur,  ipsi 
illi  quo  utitur,  funi  comparare,  ab  omni  ratione  alienum  est." — Lib.  ii.,  c.  27, 
pp.  409,  410. 

"^  Col.  ii.  18.  '  "Epistle  to  the  Ephesians." 

25 


386  THE   IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

human  nature,  He  prayed,  in  the  very  crisis  of  His  agony,  "  O 
my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  ctip  pass  from  me.'' '  The 
Scriptures  represent  the  most  exalted  saints  as  shrinking  in- 
stinctively from  sufTering.  In  the  prophecy  announcing  the 
violent  death  of  Peter,  it  is  intimated  that  even  the  intrepid 
apostle  of  the  circumcision  should  feel  disposed  to  recoil  from 
the  bloody  ordeal.  "  When  thou  shalt  be  old,"  said  our  Lord 
to  him,  "  thou  shalt  stretch  forth  thy  hands,  and  another  shall 
gird  thee,  and  carry  thee  w/zzV/^^r  tJwu  wouldest  not.'""  Paul 
mentions  with  thankfulness  how,  on  a  critical  occasion,  the 
Lord  stood  with  him,  and  ''delivered''  him  "out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  lion." '  Long  after  the  apostolic  age,  the  same 
spirit  continued  to  be  cherished,  and  hence  we  are  told  of 
Polycarp  that,  even  when  bowed  down  by  the  weight  of 
years,  he  felt  it  right  to  retire  out  of  the  way  of  those  who 
sought  his  destruction.  The  disciples,  whom  he  had  so  long 
taught,  took  the  same  view  of  Christian  duty  ;  and  accordingly, 
in  the  Epistle  of  the  Church  of  Smyrna,  which  records  his 
martyrdom,  the  conduct  of  those  who  "  present  themselves  of 
their  own  accord  to  the  trial"  is  emphatically  condemned.* 
"  We  do  not,"  say  the  believers  of  Smyrna,  "  commend  those 
who  offer  themselves  to  persecution,  seeing  the  Gospel  teaches  no 
such  thing." "  But  a  man  who  enjoyed  much  higher  advan- 
tages than  Polycarp — a  minister  who  was  contemporary  with 
all  the  apostles — a  ruler  of  the  Church  who  occupied  a  far 
more  prominent  and  influential  position  than  the  pastor  of 
Smyrna,  is  exhibited  in  the  legend  of  his  martyrdom  as  appear- 
ing "of  his  own  free  will"'  at  the  judgment-seat  of  the  Em- 
peror, and  as  manifesting  the  utmost  anxiety  to  be  delivered 

'  Matt.  xxvi.  39.  '  John  xxi.  18.  '  2  Tim.  iv.  17. 

*  We  have  here  an  additional  and  very  clear  proof  that  Polycarp,  in  his 
Epistle,  is  not  referring  to  Ignatius  of  Antioch.  Instead  of  pronouncing  the 
letters  now  current  as  treating  "  of  faith  and  patiaice,  and  of  all  things  that 
pertain  to  edification,"  he  would  have  condemned  them  as  specimens  of 
folly,  impatience,  and  presumption.  Dr.  Cureton  seems  to  think  that,  be- 
cause Ignatius  was  an  old  man,  he  was  at  liberty  to  throw  away  his  liTe 
("Corp.  Ignat.,"  p.  321)  ;  but  Polycarp  was  still  older,  and  he  thought  dif- 
ferently. 

'  Sec.  4.  '  See  "  Corpus  Ignatianum,"  p.  253. 


WHEN   FABRICATED.  3 8/ 

into  the  mouth  of  the  lion.  In  the  commencement  of  the  sec- 
ond century  the  Churches  of  Rome  and  Ephesus  possessed  as 
much  spiritual  enlightenment  as  any  other  Churches  in  the 
world,  and  it  is  a  libel  on  their  Christianity  to  suppose  that 
they  could  have  listened  with  any  measure  of  complacency  to 
the  senseless  ravings  found  even  in  the  recent  edition  of  the 
Ignatian  Letters.'  The  writer  is  made  to  assure  the  believers 
in  these  great  cities  that  he  has  an  unquenchable  desire  to  be 
eaten  alive,  and  he  beseeches  them  to  pray  that  he  may  enjoy 
this  singular  gratification.  "  I  hope,"  says  he,  ^^  through  your 
prayers  that  I  shall  be  devoured  by  thebeasts  in  Rome."  ^  .... 
"  I  beg  of  you,  be  not  with  me  in  the  love  that  is  not  in  its 
season.    Leave  me,  that  I  maybe  for  the  beasts,  that  by  means 

of  them  I  may  be  worthy  of  God With  provoking /r*?- 

voke  ye  the  beasts  that  they  may  be  a  grave  for  me,  and  may 
leave  nothing  of  my  body,  that  not  even  when  I  am  fallen 

asleep  may  I  be  a  burden  upon  any  man I  rejoice  in 

the  beasts  which  are  prepared  for  me,  and  I  pray  that  they  may 
be  quickly  found  for  me,  and  I  will  provoke  them  that  they  may 
quickly  devour  me."  ^  Every  man  jealous  for  the  honor  of 
primitive  Christianity  should  be  slow  to  believe  that  an  apos- 
tolic preacher  addressed  such  outrageous  folly  to  apostolic 
Churches. 

When  reviewing  the  external  evidence  in  support  of  these 
Epistles,  we  have  had  occasion  to  show  that  they  were  fabri- 
cated in  the  former  part  of  the  third  century.  The  internal 
evidence  corroborates  the  same  conclusion.  Ecclesiastical 
history  attests  that  during  the  fifty  years  preceding  the  death 
of  Cyprian,^  the  principles  here  put  forward  were  fast  gaining 
ascendency.     As  early  as  the  days  of  Tertullian,  ritualism  was 

'  The  reader  is  to  understand  that  all  the  extracts  given  in  the  text  are 
from  the  Syriac  version  of  the  "  Three  Epistles." 

*  "  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians." 

'  "  Epistle  to  the  Romans."  Pearson  can  see  nothing  but  the  perfection 
of  piety  in  all  this.  "  In  quibus  nihil  putidum,  nihil  odiosum,  nihil  iiiscith 
aut  iviprjidentcr  scriptum,  est."  ....  "Omnia  cum  pia,  legitima,  pr£eclara." 
—  VindicicB,  pars  secunda,  c.  ix. 

*  From  A.D.  208  to  A.D.  258. 


388  THE   IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

rapidly  supplanting  the  freedom  of  evangelical  worship ;  bap- 
tism was  beginning  to  be  viewed  as  an  "  armor  "  of  marvellous 
potency  ; '  the  tradition  that  the  great  Church  of  the  West  had 
been  founded  by  Peter  and  Paul  was  now  extensively  propa- 
gated; and  there  was  an  increasing  disposition  throughout  the 
Empire  to  recognize  the  precedence  of  "her  who  sitteth  at  the 
head  in  the  place  of  the  country  of  the  Romans."  It  is  ap- 
parent from  the  writings  of  Cyprian  that  in  some  quarters  the 
"  church  system "  was  already  matured.  The  language  as- 
cribed to  Ignatius — "  Be  careful  for  unanimity,  than  zvhich 
there  is  nothing  more  excellent  " ' — then  expressed  a  prevailing 
sentiment.  To  maintain  unity  was  considered  a  higher  duty 
than  to  uphold  truth,  and  to  be  subject  to  the  bishop  was 
deemed  one  of  the  greatest  of  evangelical  virtues.  Celibacy 
was  then  confounded  with  chastity,  and  mysticism  was  exten- 
sively occupying  the  place  of  scriptural  knowledge  and  intel- 
ligent conviction.  And  the  admiration  of  martyrdom  which 
presents  itself  in  such  a  startling  form  in  these  Epistles  was 
one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  period.  Paul  taught  that  a 
man  may  give  his  body  to  be  burned  and  yet  want  the  spirit 
of  the  Gospel;'  but  Origen  does  not  scruple  to  describe  mar- 
tyrdom as  "  the  cup  of  salvation,"  the  baptism  which  cleanses 
the  sufferer,  the  act  which  makes  his  blood  precious  in  God's 
sight  to  the  redemption  of  others."  Do  not  all  these  circum- 
stances combined  supply  abundant  proof  that  these  Epistles 
were  written  in  the  time  of  this  Alexandrian  father  ?  ' 

'  Thus  in  the  "Acts  of  Paul  and  Thecla,"  fabricated  about  the  beginning 
of  the  third  century,  Thecla  says — "  Give  me  the  seal  of  Christ  {i.e.  baptism) 
and  no  tcmpia/ion  shall  touch  fne,"  c.  i8.  See  Jones  on  the  "  Canon  of  the 
New  Testament,"  ii.,  p.  312. 

"  "  Epistle  to  Polycarp."  '  i  Cor.  xiii.  3. 

*  See  Blunt's  "  Eariy  Fathers,"  p.  237.  See  also  Origen 's  "  PZxhortation 
to  Martyrdom,"  §§  27,  30,  50. 

*  According  to  Dr.  Lee,  a  strenuous  advocate  for  the  Syriac  version  of  the 
"  Three  Epi-.tics,"  this  translation,  as  he  supposes  it  to  be,  was  made,  "  not 
later  perhaps  than  the  close  of  the  second,  or  beginning  of  the  third  cent- 
ury." "  Corpus  Ignat.,"  Introd.,  p.  86,  note.  Dr.  Cureton  occasionally 
supplies  strong  presumptive  evidence  that  the  translation  has  been  made, 
not  from  Greek  into  S)riac,  but  from  Syriac  into  Greek.  "Cor.  Ignat.,"  p. 
27^. 


PEARSON   AND   CALVIN.  389. 

It  is  truly  wonderful  that  men,  such  as  Dr.  Cureton,  have 
permitted  themselves  to  be  befooled  by  these  Syriac  manu- 
scripts. It  is  still  more  extraordinary  that  writers,  such  as 
the  pious  and  amiable  Milner,'  have  published,  with  all  grav- 
ity, the  rhapsodies  of  Ignatius  for  the  edification  of  their  read- 
ers. It  would  almost  appear  as  if  the  name  Bishop  has  such  a 
magic  influence  on  some  honest  and  enlightened  Episcopa- 
lians, that  when  the  interests  of  their  denomination  are  sup. 
posed  to  be  concerned,  they  can  be  induced  to  close  their  eyes 
against  the  plainest  dictates  of  common  sense  and  the  clearest 
light  of  historical  demonstration.  In  deciding  on  matters  of 
fact  the  spirit  of  party  should  never  be  permitted  to  interfere. 
Truth  is  the  common  property  of  the  catholic  Church ;  and  no 
good  and  holy  cause  can  require  the  support  of  an  apocryphal 
correspondence. 

It  is  no  mean  proof  of  the  sagacity  of  the  great  Calvin,  that, 
upwards  of  three  hundred  years  ago,  he  passed  a  sweeping  sen- 
tence of  condemnation  on  these  Ignatian  Epistles.  At  the 
time,  many  were  startled  by  the  boldness  of  his  language,  and 
it  was  thought  that  he  was  somewhat  precipitate  in  pronounc- 
ing such  a  decisive  judgment.  But  he  saw  distinctly,  and  he 
therefore  spoke  fearlessly.  There  is  a  far  more  intimate  con- 
nection than  many  are  disposed  to  believe  between  sound  the- 
ology and  sound  criticism,  for  a  right  knowledge  of  the  Word 
of  God  strengthens  the  intellectual  vision,  and  assists  in  the 
detection  of  error  wherever  it  may  reveal  itself.  Had  Pearson 
enjoyed  the  same  clear  views  of  Gospel  truth  as  the  Reformer 
of  Geneva,  he  would  not  have  wasted  so  many  precious  years 

'  Though  Milner,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Church  of  Christ,"  quotes  these 
letters  so  freely,  he  seems  to  have  scarcely  turned  his  attention  to  the  con- 
troversy respecting  them.  Hence  he  intimates  that  Ussher  reckoned  seven 
of  them  genuine,  though  it  is  notorious  that  the  Primate  of  Armagh  rejected 
the  Epistle  to  Polycarp.  (See  Milner,  cent,  ii.,  chap,  i.)  Others,  as  well  as 
Milner.  who  have  written  respecting  these  Epistles,  have  committed  simi- 
lar mistakes.  Thus,  Dr.  Elrington,  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity  in  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  the  recent  editor  of"  Ussher's  Works,"  when  referring  to 
the  Primate's  share  in  this  controversy,  speaks  of  "  the  recent  discovery  of 
a  Syriac  version  oi  four  Epistles  by  Mr.  Cureton  !  "  "  Life  of  Ussher,"  p. 
235,  note. 


390  THE   IGNATIAN   EPISTLES. 

in  writing  a  learned  vindication  of  the  nonsense  attributed  to 
Ignatius.  Calvin  knew  that  an  apostolic  man  was  acquainted 
with  apostolic  doctrine,  and  he  saw  that  these  letters  were  the 
productions  of  an  age  when  the  pure  light  of  Christianity  was 
greatly  obscured.  Hence  he  denounced  them  so  emphati- 
cally :  and  time  has  verified  his  deliverance.  His  language 
respecting  them  has  been  often  quoted,  but  we  feel  we  can 
not  more  appropriately  close  our  observations  on  this  subject 
than  by  another  repetition  of  it.  "There  is  nothing  more 
abominable  than  that  trash  which  is  in  circulation  under  the 
name  of  Ignatius.'  ' 

'"  Instit.."  lib.  i.,  c.  xiii.,  §  29. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   GNOSTICS,   THE    MONTANISTS,   AND    THE    MANICH^ANS. 

The  proclamation  of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah  was  the  com- 
mencement of  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  world.  The 
Gospel  spread  on  all  sides  with  great  rapidity ;  it  was  felt  to 
be  a  religion  for  the  common  people  ;  and  some  individuals  of 
highly  cultivated  minds  soon  acknowledged  its  authority.  For 
a  time  its  progress  was  impeded  by  the  persecutions  of  Nero 
and  Domitian ;  but,  in  the  beginning  of  the  second  century,  it 
started  upon  a  new  career  of  prosperous  advancement,  and 
quickly  acquired  such  a  position  that  the  most  distinguished 
scholars  and  philosophers  could  no  longer  overlook  its  preten- 
sions. In  the  reigns  of  Trajan  and  Hadrian,  a  considerable 
number  of  men  of  learning  were  already  in  its  ranks  ;  but,  on 
the  whole,  it  derived  very  equivocal  aid  from  the  presence  of 
these  new  adherents.  Not  a  few  of  the  literati  who  joined  its 
standard  attempted  to  corrupt  it ;  and  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years  after  the  death  of  the  Apostle  John,  the  champions  of 
orthodoxy  had  to  contend  against  no  less  than  thirty-two 
heresies.' 

Of  those  who  adulterated  the  Gospel,  the  Gnostics  were  by 
far  the  most  subtle,  the  most  active,  and  the  most  formidable. 
The  leaders  of  the  party  were  all  men  of  education;  and  as 
they  were  to  be  found  chiefly  in  the  large  cities,  the  Church 
in  these  centres  of  influence  was  in  no  small  degree  embarrassed 
and  endangered  by  their  speculations.  Some  of  the  peculiarities 
of  Gnosticism  have  been  already  noticed  ;*  but  as  it  made  most 

'  See  Bunsen's  "  Hippolytus,"  i.,  p.  27. 
*  Period  i.,  sec.  ii.,  chap,  iii.,  pp.  182,  183. 

(391) 


392  THE   GNOSTICS. 

progress  and  awakened  most  anxiety  during  the  second  cent- 
ury, we  must  here  advert  more  distinctly  to  its  outlines.  The 
three  great  antagonists  of  the  Gospel  were  the  Grecian  phi- 
losophy, the  heathen  mythology,  and  a  degenerate  Judaism  ; 
and  Gnosticism  was  an  attempt  to  effect  a  compromise 
between  Christianity  and  these  rivals.  As  might  have  been 
expected,  the  attempt  met  with  much  encouragement ;  for 
many,  who  hesitated  to  accept  the  new  religion  uncondition- 
ally, were  constrained  to  acknowledge  that  it  exhibited  many 
elements  of  truth  and  divinity ;  and  they  were,  therefore,  pre- 
pared to  look  on  it  with  favor  when  presented  to  them  in  an 
altered  shape  and  furnished  with  certain  favorite  appendages. 
The  Gnostics  called  themselves  believers  ;  and  their  most  cele- 
brated teachers  would  willingly  have  remained  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Church  ;  but  it  was  soon  discovered  that  their  principles 
were  subversive  of  the  New  Testament  revelation  ;  and  they 
were  accordingly  excluded  from  ecclesiastical  fellowship. 

Gnosticism  assumed  a  variety  of  forms,  and  almost  every 
one  of  its  teachers  had  his  own  distinctive  creed  ;  but,  as  a 
system,  it  was  always  known  by  certain  remarkable  features. 
It  uniformly  ignored  the  doctrine  that  God  made  all  things 
out  of  nothing;'  and,  taking  for  granted  the  eternity  of  mat- 
ter, it  tried  to  account,  on  philosophical  principles,  for  the 
moral  and  spiritual  phenomena  of  the  world  which  we  inhabit. 
The  Gnosis'  or  knowledge,  which  it  supplied,  and  from  which 
it  derived  its  designation,  was  a  strange  congeries  of  wild 
speculations.  The  Scriptures  describe  the  Most  High  as 
humbling  Himself  to  behold  the  things  that  are  on  earth,'  as 
exercising  a  constant  providence  over  all  His  creatures,  as 
decking  the  lilies  of  the  valley,  and  as  numbering  the  very 
hairs  of  our  heads;  but  Gnosticism  exhibited  the  Supreme 
God  as  separated  by  an  immeasurable  interval  from  matter, 
.and  as  having  no  direct  communication  with  anything  thus 
contaminated.  The  theory  by  means  of  which  many  of  its 
adherents  endeavored  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  origin  of 

'  See  Tertullian,  "  Adversus  Hermogenem,"  c.  \.  and  iv. 
'  -^/vitaiq.  ■■  Ps.  cxiii.  6. 


THE   GNOSTICS.  393 

evil/  and  to  trace  the  connection  between  the  finite  and  the 
infinite,  was  not  without  ingenuity.  They  maintained  that  a 
series  of  /Eons,  or  divine  beings,  emanated  from  the  Primal 
Essence ;  but,  as  sound  issuing  from  a  given  point  gradually 
becomes  fainter  till  it  is  finally  lost  in  silence,  each  generation 
of  ^ons,  as  it  receded  from  the  great  Fountain  of  Spiritual 
Existence,  lost  somewhat  of  the  vigor  of  divinity ;  and  at 
length  an  yEon  was  produced  without  power  sufficient  to 
maintain  its  place  in  the  Pleroma,  or  habitation  of  the  God- 
head. This  scheme  of  a  series  of  yEons  of  gradually  decreas- 
ing excellence  was  designed  to  show  how,  from  an  Almighty 
and  Perfect  Intelligence,  a  weak  and  erring  being  could  be 
generated.  There  were  Gnostics  who  carried  the  principle  of 
attenuation  so  far  as  to  teach  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
celestial  world  were  distributed  into  no  less  than  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  heavens,''  each  inferior  to  the  other.  Ac- 
cording to  some  of  these  systems,  an  ^on  removed  by  many 
emanations  from  the  source  of  Deity,  and,  in  consequence, 
possessed  of  comparatively  little  strength,  passed  over  the 
bounds  of  the  Pleroma,  and  imparted  life  to  matter.  Another 
Power,  called  the  Demiurge,  was  then  produced,  who,  out  of 
the  materials  already  in  existence,  fashioned  the  present  world. 
The  human  race,  ushered,  under  such  circumstances,  upon  the 
stage  of  time,  are  ignorant  of  the  true  God,  and  in  bondage  to 
corrupt  matter.  But  all  men  are  not  in  a  state  of  equal  degra- 
dation. Some  possess  a  spiritual  nature ;  some,  a  physical  or 
animal  nature ;  and  some,  only  a  corporeal  or  carnal  nature. 
Jesus  at  length  appeared;  and,  at  His  baptism  in  the  Jordan, 
Christ,  a  powerful  ^on,  joined  Him,  that  He  might  be  fitted 
for  redeeming  souls  from  the  ignorance  and  slaver>^  in  which 
they  are  entangled.  This  Saviour  taught  the  human  family 
the  knowledge  of  the  true  God.     Jesus  was  seized  and  led  to 

>  See  Tertullian,  "  Aclversus  Marcionem,"  lib.  i.,  c.  2.  About  this  time 
many  works  were  written  on  the  subject.  Eusebius  mentions  a  publication 
by  Irenasus,  "  On  Sovereignty,  or  on  the  Truth  that  God  is  Jiot  the  Ajithur 
of  Evil,"  and  another  by  Maximus  on  "  The  Origin  of  Evil."  Euseb.  v. 
20,  27. 

^  Irenjeus,  "  Contra  Hasres."  lib.  i.,  c.  24,  §  7. 


394  THE   DEMIURGE. 

crucifixion,  and  the  ^on  Christ  now  departed  from  Him 
but,  as  His  body  was  composed  of  the  finest  ethereal  elements, 
and  was,  in  fact,  a  phantom.  He  did  not  really  suffer  on  the 
accursed  tree.  Many  of  the  Gnostics  taught  that  there  are 
two  spheres  of  future  enjoyment.  They  held  that,  whilst  the 
spiritual  natures  shall  be  restored  to  the  Pleroma,  the  physical 
or  animal  natures  shall  be  admitted  to  an  inferior  state  of  hap- 
piness; and  that  such  souls  as  are  found  to  be  incapable  of 
purification  shall  be  consigned  to  perdition  or  annihilation. 

According  to  all  the  Gnostics,  the  Demiurge,  or  maker  of 
this  world,  is  far  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Deity ;  but  these 
system-builders  were  by  no  means  agreed  as  to  his  position 
and  his  functions.  Some  of  them  regarded  him  as  an  ^on  of 
inferior  intelligence,  who  acted  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  the 
Great  God ;  others  conceived  that  he  was  no  other  than  the 
God  of  the  Jews,  who,  in  their  estimation,  was  a  Being  of  rug- 
ged and  intractable  character;  whilst  others  contended  that 
he  was  an  Evil  Power  at  open  war  with  the  righteous  Sov- 
ereign of  the  universe.  The  Gnostics  also  differed  in  their 
views  respecting  matter.  Those  of  them  who  were  Egyptians, 
and  who  had  been  addicted  to  the  study  of  the  Platonic  phi- 
losophy, held  matter  to  be  inert  till  impregnated  with  life  ;  but 
the  Syrians,  who  borrowed  much  from  the  Oriental  theology, 
taught  that  it  was  eternally  subject  to  a  Lord,  or  Ruler,  who 
had  been  perpetually  at  variance  with  the  Great  God  of  the 
Pleroma. 

Two  of  the  most  distinguished  Gnostic  teachers  who  flour- 
ished in  the  early  part  of  the  second  century  were  Saturninus 
of  Antioch  and  Basilides  of  Alexandria.'  Valentine,  who  was 
somewhat  later,  and  who  first  excited  attention  at  Rome  about 
A.D.  140,  was  still  more  celebrated.  He  taught  that  in  the 
Pleroma  there  are  fifteen  male  and  fifteen  female  /Eons,  whom 
he  distinguished  by  their  names;  and  he  even  proceeded  to 
point  out  how  they  arc  distributed  into  married  pairs.     Some 

'  Irena?us,  lib.  i.,  c.  24.  According  to  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Basilides 
flourished  in  the  reigns  of  Hadrian  and  Antoninus  Pius.  "Slromata,"  lib. 
vii.,  Opera,  p.  764. 


VALENTINE   AND   MARCION.  395 

have  supposed  that  certain  deep  philosophical  truths  were 
here  concealed  by  him  under  the  veil  of  allegory.  As  he,  like 
others  of  the  same  class,  conveyed  parts  of  his  Gnosis  only 
into  the  ears  of  the  initiated,  the  explanation  of  its  symbols 
was  reserved  for  those  who  were  thus  made  acquainted  with 
its  secret  wisdom.  It  has  been  alleged  that  he  personified  the 
attributes  of  God,  and  that  the  ^ons,  whom  he  names  and 
joins  together,  are  simply  those  divine  perfections  which, 
when  combined,  are  fitted  to  produce  the  most  remarkable 
results.  Thus,  he  associated  Profundity  and  Thought,  Intelli- 
gence and  Truth,  Reason  and  Life.''  His  system  had  many  at- 
tractions for  his  age,  as  his  disciples,  in  considerable  numbers, 
were  soon  found  both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West. 

When  Valentine  was  at  Rome,  Marcion,  another  heresiarch 
of  the  same  class,  was  also  in  the  great  metropolis.''  This 
man  was  born  in  Pontus,  and  though  some  of  the  fathers 
have  attempted  to  fix  a  stain  on  his  early  reputation,  his  sub- 
sequent character  was  irreproachable.'  He  was  one  of  the 
most  upright  and  amiable  of  the  Gnostics.  These  errorists 
were  charged  by  their  orthodox  antagonists  with  gross  immor- 
ality ;  and  there  was  often  too  much  ground  for  the  accusa- 
tion ;  for  some  of  them,  such  as  Carpocrates,^  avowed  and 
encouraged  the  most  shameless  licentiousness;  but  others, 
such  as  Marcion,  were  noted  for  their  ascetic  strictness.  All 
the  more  respectable  Gnostics  recommended  themselves  to 
public  confidence  by  the  austerity  of  their  discipline.  They 
enjoined  rigorous  fasting,  and  inculcated  abstinence  from 
wine,  flesh-meat,  and  marriage.  The  Oriental  theology,  as 
well  as  the  Platonic  philosophy,  sanctioned  such  a  mode  of 
living ;  and,  therefore,  those  by  whom  it  was  practiced  were 
in  a  favorable  position  for  gaining  the  public  ear  when  they 
came  forward  as  theological  instructors. 

'  Bu^of  Ka\  ivvota,  voi'g  Kal  akijOeia^  7i,6yoQ  koI  l^u?]. 

*  According  to  some,  Valentine  was  the  disciple  of  Marcion.  Clemens 
Alexandrinus  states  that  Marcion  was  his  senior.  "  Strom."  lib.  viii.  Ter- 
tullian  says  expressly  that  Valentine  was  at  one  time  the  disciple  of  Mar- 
cion.    "  De  Carne  Christi,"  c.  i. 

^  See  Neander's  "General  History,"  by  Torrey,  ii.  pp.  171,  174,  notes. 

*  See  Kaye's  "  Clement  of  Alexandria,"  pp.  316,  317. 


39^  ERRORS   OF   GNOSTICISM. 

Gnosticism  appears  to  us  a  most  fantastic  system ;  but,  ii. 
the  second' century,  it  was  dreaded  as  a  very  formidable  adver- 
sary by  the  Church ;  and  the  extent  to  which  it  spread  attests 
that  it  possessed  not  a  few  of  the  elements  of  popularity.  Its 
doctrine  of  vEons,  or  Divine  Emanations,  was  quite  in  ac- 
cordance with  theories  which  had  then  gained  extensive  cur- 
rency ;  and  its  account  of  the  formation  of  the  present  world 
was  countenanced  by  established  modes  of  thinking.  Many 
who  cherished  a  hereditary  prejudice  against  Judaism  were 
gratified  by  the  announcement  that  the  Demiurge  was  no 
other  than  the  God  of  the  Israelites ;  and  many  more  were 
flattered  by  the  statement  that  some  souls  are  essentially 
purer  and  better  than  others.'  The  age  was  sunk  in  sensu- 
ality ;  and,  as  it  was  the  great  boast  of  the  heresiarchs  that 
their  Gnosis  secured  freedom  from  the  dominion  of  the  flesh, 
multitudes,  who  secretly  sighed  for  deliverance,  were  thus  in- 
duced to  test  its  efificacy.  But  Gnosticism,  in  whatever  form 
it  presented  itself,  was  a  miserable  perversion  of  the  Gospel. 
Some  of  its  teachers  entirely  rejected  the  Old  Testament  ; 
others  reduced  its  history  to  a  myth ;  and  all  mutilated  and 
misinterpreted  the  writings  of  the  apostles  and  evangelists. 
Like  the  Jewish  Cabalists,  who  made  void  the  law  of  God 
by  expositions  which  fancy  suggested  and  tradition  embalmed, 
the  Gnostics,  by  their  far-fetched  and  unnatural  comments, 
threw  an  air  of  obscurity  over  the  plainest  passages  of  the 
New  Testament.  Some  of  them,  aware  that  they  could  de- 
rive no  support  from  the  inspired  records,  actually  fabricated 
Gospels,  and  affixed  to  them  the  names  of  apostles  or  evan- 
gelists,,in  the  hope  of  thus  obtaining  credit  for  the  spurious 
documents.'  Whilst  Gnosticism  in  this  way  set  aside  the 
authority  of  the  Word  of  God,  it  also  lowered  the  dignity  of 
the  Saviour;  and  even  when  Christ  was  most  favorably  repre- 
sented by  it.  He  was  but  an  -^on   removed  at  the  distance  of 

*  The  Ophites  carried  this  feeling  so  far  as  to  maintain  that  the  serpent 
which  deceived  Eve  was  no  other  than  the  divine  vCon  Sophia,  or  Wisdom 
who  thus  weakened  the  power  of  laldabaoth,  or  the  Demiurge. 

'  See  Moshcim,  "  He  Causis  Suppositorum  Librorum  inter  Christianos 
Sasculi  Primi  et  Secundi."     "  Dissert,  ad  Hist.  Eccl.  Pcrtin."  vol.  i.  221. 


MONTANUS,  397 

several  intermediate  generations  from  the  Supreme  Ruler  of 
the  universe.  The  propagators  of  this  system  altogether  mis- 
conceived the  scope  of  the  Gospel  dispensation.  They  substi- 
tuted salvation  by  carnal  ordinances  for  salvation  by  faith  ; 
they  represented  man  in  his  natural  state  rather  as  an  ignora- 
mus than  a  sinner;  and,  whilst  they  absurdly  magnified  their 
own  Gnosis,  they  entirely  discarded  the  doctrine  of  a  vicari- 
ous atonement. 

Shortly  after  the  middle  of  the  second  century  the  Church 
began  to  be  troubled  by  a  heresy  in  some  respects  very  differ- 
ent from  Gnosticism.  At  that  time  the  persecuting  spirit  dis- 
played by  Marcus  Aurelius  filled  the  Christians  throughout 
the  Empire  with  alarm,  and  those  of  them  who  were  given  to 
despondency  began  to  entertain  the  most  gloomy  anticipa- 
tions. An  individual,  named  Montanus,  who  laid  claim  to 
prophetic  endowments,  now  appeared  in  a  village  on  the  bor- 
ders of  Phrygia;  and  though  he  possessed  a  rather  mean 
capacity,  his  discipline  was  so  suited  to  the  taste  of  many,  and 
the  predictions  which  he  uttered  so  accorded  with  prevailing 
apprehensions,  that  he  soon  created  a  deep  impression.  When 
he  first  came  forward  in  the  character  of  a  Divine  Instructor 
he  had  been  recently  converted  to  Christianity;  and  he 
strangely  misapprehended  the  nature  of  the  Gospel.  When 
he  delivered  his  pretended  communications  from  heaven,  he 
wrought  himself  up  into  a  state  of  frenzied  excitement.  His 
countrymen,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  witness  the  ecsta- 
sies of  the  priests  of  Bacchus  and  Cybele,  saw  proofs  of  a 
divine  impulse  in  his  bodily  contortions ;  and  some  of  them 
at  once  acknowledged  his  extraordinary  mission.  By  means 
of  two  wealthy  female  associates,  named  Priscilla  and  Maxi- 
milla,  who  also  professed  to  utter  prophecies,  Montanus  was 
enabled  rapidly  to  extend  his  influence.  His  fame  spread 
abroad  on  all  sides ;  and,  in  a  few  years,  he  had  followers  in 
Europe  and  Africa,  as  well  as  in  Asia. 

This  heresiarch  did  not  attempt  to  overturn  the  creed  of 
the  Church.  He  was  neither  a  profound  thinker  nor  a  logical 
reasoner;  and  he  certainly  had  not  maturely  studied  the 
science  of   theology.     But  he  possessed  an   ardent  tempera- 


398  MONTANUS. 

merit,  and  he  promulgated  the  suggestions  of  his  own  fanati- 
cism as  the  dictates  of  inspiration.  The  doctrine  of  the  per- 
sonal reign  of  Christ  during  the  millennium  formed  a  promi- 
nent topic  in  his  ministrations.'  He  maintained  that  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  Church  had  been  left  incomplete  by  the  apos- 
tles, and  that  he  was  empowered  to  supply  a  better  code  of 
regulations.  According  to  some  he  proclaimed  himself  the 
Paraclete ;  but,  if  so,  he  most  grievously  belied  his  assumed 
name,  for  his  system  was  far  better  fitted  to  induce  despond- 
ency than  to  inspire  comfort.  All  his  precepts  were  con- 
ceived in  the  sour  and  contracted  spirit  of  mere  ritualism. 
He  insisted  upon  long  fasts  ;  condemned  second  marriages ; ' 
inveighed  against  all  who  endeavored  to  save  themselves  by 
flight  in  times  of  persecution  ;  and  asserted  that  such  as  had 
once  been  guilty  of  any  heinous  transgression  should  never 
again  be  admitted  to  ecclesiastical  fellowship.  Whilst  he  pro- 
mulgated this  stern  discipline,  he  at  the  same  time  delivered 
the  most  dismal  predictions,  announcing,  among  other  things, 
the  speedy  catastrophe  of  the  Roman  Empire.  He  also  gave 
out  that  the  Phrygian  village  where  he  ministered  was  to  be- 
come the  New  Jerusalem  of  renovated  Christianity. 

But  the  Church  was  still  too  strongly  impregnated  with  the 
free  spirit  of  the  Gospel  to  submit  to  such  a  prophet  as  Mon- 
tanus.  He  had,  however,  powerful  advocates,  and  even  a 
Roman  bishop  at  one  time  gave  him  countenance.'  Though 
his  discipline  commended  itself  to  the  morose  and  pharisaical, 
it  was  rejected   by  those  who  rightly  understood  the  mystery 

'  His  great  text  was  Rev.  xx.  6,  7.  Hence  some  now  began  to  flispute 
the  authority  of  the  Apocalypse. 

*  Others,  not  connected  with  Montanus,  but  who  Hved  about  the  same 
time,  held  the  same  views  on  the  subject  of  marriage.  Thus,  Atheiiago- 
ras  says,  "  A  second  marriage  is  by  us  esteemed  a  specious  adultery." — 
Apo/ci;y,  §  33. 

'*  "  Nam  idem  (Praxeas)  tunc  Episcopum  Romanum,  agnoscentem  jam 
prophetias  Montani,  Priscas,  Maximillae,  et  ex  ea  agnitione  pacem  ecclesiis 
Asiae  et  Phrygise  inferentcm,  falsa  de  ipsis  prophetis  et  ecclesiis  eorum  adse- 
verando  et  preecessorum  ejus  auctoritates  defendendo  coegit  et  litteras  pacis 
revocare  jam  emissas  et  a  proposito  recipiendorum  charismatum  conces- 
sare." — Tertitllian,  Adv.  Fraxcan.,  c.  i. 


MANI.  399 

of  godliness.  Several  councils  were  held  to  discuss  its  merits, 
and  it  was  emphatically  condemned."  The  signal  failure  of 
some  of  the  Montanist  predictions  had  greatly  lowered  the 
credit  of  the  party  ;  Montanus  was  pronounced  a  false  proph- 
et ;  and  though  the  sect  was  supported  by  TertuUian,  the 
most  vigorous  writer  of  the  age,  it  gradually  ceased  to  attract 
notice." 

A  centuiy  after  the  appearance  of  Montanus,  another  indi- 
vidual, in  a  more  remote  part  of  Asia,  acquired  great  notoriety 
as  a  heresiarch.  The  doctrine  of  two  First  Principles,  a  good 
deity  and  an  evil  deity,  had  been  long  current  in  the  East. 
Even  in  the  days  of  Isaiah  we  trace  its  existence,  for  there  is 
a  most  significant  allusion  to  it  in  one  of  his  prophecies,  in 
which  Jehovah  is  represented    as   saying,    "  I   am  the   Lord, 

and  there  is  none  else,  there  is  no  God  beside  me / 

form  the  light  and  create  darkness ;  I  make  peace  and  create 
evil :  I  the  Lord  do  all  these  things."  '  About  the  fifth  cent- 
ury before  Christ,  the  Persian  theology  had  been  reformed  by 
Zoroaster,  and  the  subordination  of  the  two  Principles  to  one 
God,  the  author  of  both,  had  been  acknowledged  as  an  article 
of  the  established  creed.  In  the  early  part  of  the  third  cent- 
ury of  the  Christian  era,  there  was  a  struggle  between  the  ad- 
herents of  the  old  and  the  new  faith  of  Parsism  ;  and  the 
supporters  of  the  views  of  Zoroaster  had  been  again  success- 
ful. But  a  considerable  party  still  refused  to  relinquish  the 
doctrine  of  the  independence  of  the  two  Principles ;  and  some 
of  these  joined  themselves  to  Mani,  a  Persian  by  birth,  who, 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  third  century,  became  distinguished 
as  the  propagator  of  a  species  of  mongrel  Christianity.  This 
man,  who  was  born  about  A.D.  240,  possessed  genius  of  a  high 
order.  Though  he  finished  his  career  when  he  was  only  thirty- 
seven  years  of  age,  he  had  already  risen  to  eminence  among 
his  countrymen,  and  attracted  the  notice  of  several  successive 

'  Euseb.  V.  16. 

'  It  maintained,  however,  a  lingering  existence  for  several  centuries.  Even 
Justinian,  about  A.D.  530,  enacts  laws  against  the  Montanists  or  Tertul- 
lianists. 

'  Isaiah  xlv.  5,  7. 


400  MANI. 

sovereigns.  He  was  a  skilful  physician,  an  accomplished 
painter,  and  an  excellent  astronomer,  as  well  as  an  acute  meta- 
physician. Like  Montanus,  he  laid  claim  to  a  divine  commis- 
sion, and  alleged  that  he  was  the  Paraclete  who  was  promised 
to  guide  into  all  truth.  He  maintained  that  there  are  two 
First  Principles  of  all  things,  light  and  darkness  :  God,  in  the 
kingdom  of  light,  and  the  devil,  in  the  kingdom  of  darkness, 
have  existed  from  eternity.  Mani  thus  accounted  for  the 
phenomena  of  the  world  around  us  :  "  Over  the  kingdom  of 
light,"  said  this  heresiarch,  "  ruled  God  the  Father,  eternal  in 
His  sacred  race,  glorious  in  His  might,  the  truth  by  His  very 

essence But  the  Father  himself,  glorious  in  His  majesty, 

incomprehensible  in  His  greatness,  has  united  with  Himself 
blessed  and  glorious  ^ons,  in  number  and  greatness  surpass- 
ing estimation."  '  He  taught  that  Christ  came  to  liberate  the 
light  from  the  darkness,  and  that  he  himself  was  now  deputed 
to  reveal  the  mysteries  of  the  universe,  and  to  assist  men  in 
recovering  their  freedom.  He  rejected  a  great  portion  of  the 
canon  of  Scripture,  and  substituted  certain  writings  of  his 
own,  which  his  followers  were  to  receive  as  of  divine  authority. 
His  disciples,  called  Manichees,  or  Manichaeans,  assumed  the 
name  of  a  CJmrch,  and  were  divided  into  two  classes,  the 
Elect  and  the  Hearers.  The  Elect,  who  were  comparatively 
few,  were  the  sacred  order.  They  alone  were  made  acquaint- 
ed with  the  mysteries,  or  more  recondite  doctrines,  of  the 
sect ;  they  practiced  extreme  abstinence ;  they  subsisted 
chiefly  upon  olives;'  and  they  lived  in  celibacy.  They  were 
not  to  kill,  or  even  wound,  an  animal ;  neither  were  they  to 
pull  up  a  vegetable  or  pluck  a  flower.  The  Hearers  were  per- 
mitted to  share  in  the  business  and  pleasures  of  the  world, 
but  they  were  taught  only  the  elements  of  the  system.  After 
death,  according  to  Mani,  souls  do  not  pass  immediately  into 
the  world  of  light.  They  must  first  undergo  a  twofold 
purification:  one,  by  w^'/rr  in  the  moon;  another,  by y^/r  in 
the  sun. 

'  Augustin,  "Contra  Epist.  Fundamenti,"  c.  13. 

"  On  the  ground  that  their  oil  is  the  food  of  light !     SchalT's  "  History  of 
the  Christian  Church,"  p.  249. 


MORTAL  AND   VENIAL   SINS.  40I 

Mani  had  provoked  the  enmity  of  the  Magians;  and,  at 
their  instigation,  he  was  consigned,  about  A.D.  277,  by  order  of 
the  Persian  monarch,  to  a  cruel  and  ignominious  death.  But 
the  sect  which  he  had  organized  did  not  die  along  with  him. 
His  system  was  well  fitted  to  please  the  Oriental  fancy  ;  its 
promise  of  a  higher  wisdom  to  those  who  obtained  admission 
into  the  class  of  the  Elect  encouraged  the  credulity  of  the 
auditors ;  and,  to  such  as  had  not  carefully  studied  the  Chris- 
tian revelation,  its  hypothesis  of  a  Good  and  of  an  Evil  Deity 
accounted  rather  plausibly  for  the  mingled  good  and  evil  of 
our  present  existence.  The  Manichaeans  were  exposed  to  much 
suffering  in  the  country  where  they  first  appeared ;  and,  as  a 
sect  of  Persian  origin,  they  were  oppressed  by  the  Roman 
government ;  but  they  were  not  extinguished  by  persecution, 
and,  far  down  in  the  Middle  Ages,  they  still  occasionally 
figure  in  the  drama  of  history. 

Synods  and  councils  may  pass  resolutions  condemnatory  of 
false  doctrine,  but  it  is  more  difficult  to  counteract  the  seduc- 
tion of  the  principles  from  which  heresies  derive  their  influ- 
ence. The  Gnostics,  the  Montanists,  and  the  Manichaeans,  owed 
much  of  their  strength  to  fallacies  and  superstitions  with  which 
the  Christian  teachers  of  the  age  were  not  fully  prepared  to 
grapple  ;  and  hence  it  was  that,  whilst  the  errorists  themselves 
were  denounced  by  ecclesiastical  authority,  a  large  portion  of 
their  peculiar  leaven  found  its  way  into  the  Church  and  gradu- 
ally produced  an  immense  change  in  its  doctrine  and  disci- 
pline. A  notice  of  the  more  important  of  the  false  sentiments 
and  dangerous  practices  which  the  heretics  propagated  and 
the  catholics  adopted,  may  enable  us  to  estimate  the  amount 
of  the  damage  which  the  cause  of  truth  now  sustained. 

The  Montanists  recognized  the  distinction  of  'venial  and 
mortal  sins.  They  held  that  a  professed  disciple,  guilty  of 
what  they  called  mortal  sin,  should  never  again  be  admitted 
to  sealing  ordinances.'      It  is  apparent  from  the  writings  of 

'  Du   Pin  says  that  "  Tertullian  was  the  first  that  spoke  distinctly  of  the 
distinction  of  great  and  Httle  sins  "  (I.,  286.)    We  find  him,  after  he  became 
a  Montanist,  dwelling  on  the  distinction  of  venial  and  mortal  sins.     See 
Kaye's  "Tertullian,"  pp.  255,  339. 
26 


402  MORTAL   AND   VENIAL   SINS. 

Hippolytus,  the  famous  bishop  of  Portus,  that,  in  the  early- 
part  of  the  third  century,  some  of  the  most  influential  of  the 
cathoHcs  cordially  supported  this  principle.  Soon  after\vard 
it  was  openly  advocated  by  a  powerful  party  in  the  Church  of 
Rome,  and  its  rejection  by  Cornelius,  then  at  the  head  of  that 
community,  led  to  the  schism  of  Novatian.  But  the  distinc- 
tion of  venial  and  mortal  sins,  on  which  it  proceeded,  was  even 
now  generally  acknowledged.  This  distinction,  which  lies  at 
the  basis  of  the  ancient  penitential  discipline,  was  already  be- 
ginning to  vitiate  the  whole  catholic  theology.  Some  sins 
are  more  heinous  than  others,  but  the  comparative  turpitude 
of  transgressions  depends  much  on  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  are  committed.  The  wages  of  every  sin  is  death,'  and  it 
is  absurd  to  attempt  to  give  a  stereotyped  character  to  any 
one  violation  of  God's  law  by  classing  it,  in  regard  to  the  ex- 
tent of  its  guilt,  in  a  particular  category.  Christianity  regards 
sin,  in  whatever  form,  as  a  spiritual  poison  ;  and  instead  of 
seeking  to  solve  the  curious  problem — how  much  of  it  may 
exist  in  the  soul  without  the  destruction  of  spiritual  life? — it 
wisely  instructs  us  to  guard  against  it  in  our  very  thoughts, 
and  to  abstain  from  "  all  appearance  of  evil." "  "  When  lust," 
or  indwelling  depravity  of  any  description,  "has  conceived,  it 
bringeth  forth  sin ;  and  sin,  when  it  is  finished,  bringeth  forth 
death." '  The  admission  of  the  distinction  of  venial  and  mor- 
tal sins  is  most  perilous  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Christian 
community ;  for,  whilst  it  is  without  foundation  in  the  in- 
spired statute-book,  it  inevitably  leads  to  the  neglect  or  care- 
less performance  of  many  duties  which  the  Most  High  has 
solemnly  enjoined. 

The  Platonic  philosophy  taught  the  necessity  of  a  state  of 
purification  after  death;*  and  a  modification  of  this  doctrine 
formed  part  of  at  least  some  of  the  systems  of  Gnosticism.' 
It  is  inculcated  by  Tcrtullian,  the  great  champion  of  Montan- 

'  Rom.  vi.  23.  "  I  Thess.  v.  22.  'James  i.  15. 

*  See  Cudvvorth's  "  Intellectual  System,"  with  Notes  by  Mosheim,  iii.,  p, 
297.     Edition,  London,  1845, 

'  See  Hagenbach's  "  History  of  Doctrines,"  i.,  p.  218. 


PURGATORY   AND   PENANCE.  403 

ism  ;  *  and  we  have  seen  how,  according  to  Mani,  departed 
souls  pass,  first  to  the  moon,  and  then  to  the  sun,  that  they 
may  thus  undergo  a  twofold  purgation.  Here,  again,  a  tenet 
originally  promulgated  by  the  heretics,  became  at  length  a 
portion  of  the  creed  of  the  Church.  The  Manichaeans,  as  well 
as  the  Gnostics,  rejected  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  and  as 
faith  in  the  perfection  of  the  cleansing  virtue  of  the  blood  of 
Christ  declined,  a  belief  in  Purgatory  became  popular.^ 

The  Gnostics,  with  some  exceptions,  insisted  greatly  on  the 
mortification  of  the  body ;  and  the  same  species  of  discipline 
was  strenuously  recommended  by  the  Montanists  and  the 
Manichseans.  All  these  heretics  believed  that  the  largest 
measure  of  future  happiness  was  to  be  realized  by  those  who 
practiced  the  most  rigid  asceticism.  Mani  admitted  that  an 
individual  without  any  extraordinary  amount  of  abstinence 
could  reach  the  world  of  Light,  for  he  held  out  the  hope  of 
heaven  to  his  Hearers ;  but  he  taught  that  its  highest  distinc- 
tions were  reserved  for  the  Elect,  who  scrupulously  refrained 
from  bodily  indulgence.  The  Church  silently  adopted  the 
same  principle ;  and  the  distinction  between  precepts  and 
counsels,  which  was  soon  introduced  into  its  theology,  rests 
upon  this  foundation.  By  precepts  are  understood  those  du- 
ties which  are  obligatory  upon  all ;  by  counsels,  those  acts, 
whether  of  charity  or  abstinence,  which  are  expected  from 
such  only  as  aim  at  superior  sanctity.'  The  Elect  of  the 
Manichaeans,  as  well  as  many  of  the  Gnostics,''  declined  to  en- 
ter into  wedlock ;  and  the  Montanists  were  disposed  to  confer 
double  honor  on  the  single  clergy.*  The  Church  did  not  long 
stand  out  against  the  fascinations  of  this  popular  delusion. 
Her  members  almost   universally  caught  up  the  impression 

•  See  Kaye's  "Tertullian,"  p.  348. 

2  The  doctrine  of  Purgatory,  as  now  held,  was  not,  however,  fully  recog- 
nized until  the  time  of  Gregory  the  Great,  or  the  beginning  of  the  seventh 
century, 

'See  Mosheim's  "  Institutes,"  by  Soames,  i.  166. 

*  Marcion  declined  to  baptize  those  who  were  married.  "  Non  tinguitur 
apud  ilium  caro,  nisi  virgo,  nisi  vidua,  nisi  caelebs,  nisi  divortio  baptisma 
mercata." —  Tertullian,  Adver.  Marcioiiem^  lib.  i.,  c.  29. 

°  See  Neander's  "  General  History,"  ii.  253. 


404  CELIBACY. 

that  marriage  stands  in  the  way  of  the  cultivation  of  piety ; 
and  bishops  and  presbyters,  who  lived  in  celibacy,  began  to 
be  regarded  as  more  holy  than  their  brethren.  This  feeling 
continued  to  gain  strength ;  and  from  it  sprung  that  vast  sys- 
tem of  monasticism  which  spread  throughout  Christendom, 
with  such  amazing  rapidity,  in  the  fourth  century.' 

It  thus  appears  that  asceticism  and  clerical  celibacy  have 
been  grafted  on  Christianity  by  paganism.  Hundreds  of  years 
before  the  New  Testament  was  written,  Buddhism  could  boast 
of  multitudes  of  monks  and  eremites."  The  Gnostics,  in  the 
early  part  of.  the  second  century,  celebrated  the  praises  of  a 
single  life;  and  the  Elect  of  the  Manichaeans  were  all  celi- 
bates. Meanwhile  marriage  was  permitted  to  the  clergy  of 
the  catholic  Church.  Well  might  the  apostle  exhort  the  dis- 
ciples to  beware  of  those  ordinances  which  have  "  a  shoiv  of 
•wisdom  in  will-worship,  and  humility,  and  neglecting  of  the 
body" '  as  the  austerities  of  the  cloister  are  miserable  prepara- 
tives for  the  enjoyments  of  a  world  of  purity  and  love.  Chris- 
tianity exhibited  startling  tokens  of  degeneracy  when  it  at- 
tempted to  nourish  piety  upon  the  spawn  of  the  heathen  su- 
perstitions. The  Gospel  is  designed  for  social  and  for  active 
beings ;  as  it  hallows  all  the  relations  of  life,  it  also  teaches  us 
how  to  use  all  the  good  gifts  of  God ;  and  whilst  celibacy  and 
protracted  fasting  may  only  generate  misanthropy  and  melan- 
choly, faith,  walking  in  the  ways  of  obedience,  can  purify  the 
heart,  and  induce  the  peace  that  passeth  all  understanding. 

'  In  the  fifth  century,  the  great  Augustine  thus  absurdly  discourses  of  the 
merits  of  celibacy :  "  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  difference  of  fertility,  let 
them  ascertain  who  understand  these  things  better  than  we  do  —whether 
the  virginal  life  be  in  fruit  an  hundredfold,  the  widowed  sixtyfold,  the  mar- 
ried thirtyfold — or  whether  the  hundredfold  fertility  be  ascribed  to  martyr- 
dom, the  sixtyfold  to  continence,  the  thirtyfold  to  marriage." — De  Sancta 
Virginitatc,  cap.  45. 

'In  the  Wcstininster  Rcinnu  for  October,  1856,  there  is  an  article  on 
"  Buddhism,"  written,  indeed,  in  the  anti-evangelical  spirit  of  that  periodi- 
cal, but  containing  withal  much  curious  and  important  information.  See 
also  Sir  James  Emerson  Tenncnt's  "  Ceylon,"  and  Hardy's  "  Eastern  Mon- 
achism." 

^Col.  ii.  23. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  DOCTRINE   OF    THE  CHURCH, 

For  some  time  after  the  apostolic  age,  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church  remained  unchanged.  Those  who  had  been  taught 
by  the  inspired  heralds  of  the  Gospel  did  not  readily  relin- 
quish any  of  its  distinctive  principles.  The  purity  of  the 
evangelical  creed  was  indeed  soon  deteriorated  by  the  ad- 
mixture of  dogmas  suggested  by  bigotry  and  superstition  ; 
but,  throughout  the  whole  of  the  period  before  us,  its  ele- 
mentary articles  were  substantially  maintained  by  almost  all 
the  Churches  of  the  Empire. 

Though  there  was  still  an  agreement  respecting  the  car- 
dinal points  of  Christianity,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  early 
writers  occasionally  expressed  themselves  in  a  way  which 
would  now  be  considered  loose  or  inaccurate.  Errorists,  by 
the  controversies  they  awakened,  not  unfrequently  created 
much  perplexity  and  confusion  ;  but,  in  general,  the  truth 
eventually  issued  from  discussion  with  renovated  credit ;  for, 
in  due  time,  acute  and  able  advocates  came  forward  to  prove 
that  the  articles  assailed  rested  on  an  impregnable  foundation. 
During  these  debates  it  became  necessary  to  distinguish  the 
different  shades  of  doctrine  by  the  establishment  of  a  fixed 
terminology.  The  disputants  were  obliged  to  define  with 
precision  the  expressions  they  employed  ;  and  thus  various 
forms  of  speech  ceased  to  have  an  equivocal  meaning.  But, 
in  the  second  or  third  century,  theology  had  not  assumed  a 
scientific  form  ;  and  the  language  of  orthodoxy  was,  as  yet, 
unsettled.  Hence,  when  treating  of  doctrinal  questions,  those 
whose  views  were  substantially  correct  sometimes  gave  their 

(405) 


4o6  "THE  apostles'  creed." 

sanction  to  the  use  of  phrases  which  were  afterward  con- 
demned as  the  symbols  of  heterodoxy.' 

About  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  all  adults  who 
were  admitted  to  baptism  were  required  to  make  a  declara- 
tion of  their  faith  by  assenting  to  some  such  formula  as 
that  now  called  "  The  Apostles'  Creed  "; "  and  though  no 
general  council  had  yet  been  held,  the  chief  pastors  of  the 
largest  and  most  influential  Churches  maintained,  by  letters, 
an  ofificial  correspondence,  and  were  in  this  way  well  ac- 
quainted with  each  other's  sentiments.  A  considerable  num- 
ber of  these  epistles,  or  at  least  of  extracts  from  them,  are 
still  extant  ; '  and  there  is  thus  abundant  proof  of  the  unity 
of  the  faith  of  the  ecclesiastical  rulers.  But,  in  treating  of 
this  subject,  it  is  necessary  to  be  more  specific,  and  to  no- 
tice particularly  the  leading  doctrines  commonly  received. 

Before  entering  directly  on  this  review,  it  is  proper  to  men- 
tion that  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  held  in  the  highest  esti- 
mation. The  reading  of  them  aloud  formed  part  of  the 
stated  service  of  the  congregation,  and  one  or  other  of  the 
passages  brought,  at  the  time,  under  the  notice  of  the  audi- 
tory, usually  constituted  the  groundwork  of  the  preacher's 
discourse.  Their  perusal  was  recommended  to  the  laity  ;  * 
the  husband  and  wife  talked  of  them  familiarly  as  they  sat  by 

'  The  most  remarkable  instance  of  this  is  the  condemnation  of  the  word 
6/Movaioc,  as  applied  to  our  Lord,  by  the  Synod  of  Antioch  in  a.d.  269.  It 
is  well  known  that  the  very  same  word  was  adopted  in  a.d.  325,  by  the 
Council  of  Nice  as  the  symbol  of  orthodoxy;  and  yet  these  two  ecclesiasti- 
cal assemblies  held  the  same  views.  See  also,  as  to  the  application  of  the 
word  vTraaraacc,  Burton's  "  Ante-Nicene  Testimonies,"  p.  129. 

*  "The  inference  to  be  drawn  from  a  comparison  of  different  passages 
scattered  through  Tertullian's  writings  is,  that  the  A])ostles'  Creed  in  its 
present  form  was  not  known  to  him  as  a  summary  of  faith  ;  but  that  the 
various  clauses  of  which  it  is  composed  were  generally  received  as  articles 
of  faith  by  orthodox  Christians. "^ — Kayf's  TcrtuIIiaii,  p.  324. 

2  These  may  be  found  in  Routh's  "  Reliquix."  Eusebius  has  preserved 
many  of  them. 

*  "  Si  quis  legat  Scripturas et  crit  consummatus  discipulus,  at 

similis  patrifamilias,  qui  de  thesauro  suo  profert  nova  et  vetera." — IretKBUS, 
iv.,  c.  26,  §  i. 


DIFFUSION   OF   SCRIPTURE   KNOWLEDGE.  407 

the  domestic  hearth  ; '  and  children  were  accustomed  to  com- 
mit them  to  memory.''  As  many  of  the  disciples  could  not 
read,  and  as  the  expense  of  manuscripts  was  considerable, 
copies  of  the  sacred  books  were  not  in  the  hands  of  all  ;  but 
their  frequent  rehearsal  in  the  public  assemblies  made  the 
multitude  familiar  with  their  contents,  and  some  of  the 
brethren  possessed  an  amount  of  acquaintance  with  them 
which,  even  at  the  present  day,  would  be  deemed  marvellous. 
Eusebius  speaks  of  several  individuals  who  could  repeat,  at 
will,  any  required  passage  from  either  the  Old  or  New  Testa- 
ment. On  a  certain  occasion  the  historian  happened  to  be 
present  when  one  of  these  walking  concordances  poured  forth 
the  stores  of  his  prodigious  memory.  ''  I  was  struck  with  ad- 
miration," says  he,  "  when  I  first  beheld  him  standing  amidst 
a  large  crowd,  and  reciting  certain  portions  of  Holy  Writ. 
As  long  as  I  could  only  hear  his  voice,  I  supposed  that  he 
was  reading,  as  is  usual  in  the  congregations  ;  but,  when  I 
came  close  up  to  him,  I  discovered  that,  employing  only  the 
eyes  of  his  mind,  he  uttered  the  divine  oracles  like  some 
prophet." ' 

It  was  not  extraordinary  that  the  early  Christians  were 
anxious  to  treasure  up  Scripture  in  the  memory  ;  for,  in  all 
matters  of  faith  and  practice,  the  Written  Word  was  regarded 
as  the  standard  of  ultimate  appeal.  No  human  authority 
whatever  was  deemed  equal  to  the  award  of  this  Divine  arbi- 
ter. "  They  who  are  laboring  after  excellency,"  says  a  father 
of  this  period,  "  will  not  stop  in  their  search  after  truth,  imtit 
they  have  obtained  proof  of  that  zvhich  they  believe  from  the 
Scriptures  themselves^  *  Nor  was  there  any  dispute  as  to 
the  amount  of  confidence  to  be  placed  in  the  language  of  the 
Bible.     The    doctrine  of  its    plenary  inspiration — a    doctrine 

'  "  Ubi  fomenta  fidei  de  scripturarum  interjectione  ?  " —  TertulHan,  Ad 
Uxorem,  lib.  ii.,  c.  6. 

^  As  in  the  case  of  Origen.  In  the  "  Didascalia"  we  meet  with  the  follow- 
ing directions :  "  Teach  then  your  children  the  word  of  the   Lord 

Teach  them  to  write,  and  to  read  the  Holy  Scriptures." — Ethiopic  Didas- 
calia, by  Piatt,  p.  130. 

^  Euseb.  viii.,  c.  13.  ■*  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  "  Stromata,"  lib.  vii. 


408  PLENARY   INSPIRATION   OF   SCRIPTURE. 

which  many  in  modern  times  either  openly  or  virtually  deny — 
was  received  without  abatement  or  hesitation.  Even  Ori- 
gen,  who  takes  such  liberties  when  interpreting  the  sacred 
text,  admits  most  fully  that  it  is  all  of  divine  dictation.  "  I 
believe,"  says  he,  "  that,  for  those  who  know  how  to  draw 
virtue  from  the  Scriptures,  every  letter  in  the  oracles  of  God 
has  its  end  and  its  work,  even  to  an  iota  and  particle  of  a 
letter.  And,  as  among  plants,  there  is  not  one  but  has  its 
peculiar  virtue,  and  as  they  only  who  have  a  knowledge  of 
botanical  science  can  tell  how  each  should  be  prepared  and 
applied  to  a  useful  purpose ;  so  it  is  that  he  who  is  a  holy 
and  spiritual  botanist  of  the  Word  of  God, .by  gathering  up 
each  atom  and  element,  will  find  the  virtue  of  that  Word, 
and  acknowledge  that  there  is  nothing  in  all  that  is  written 
that  is  superfluous."  ' 

It  has  been  already  stated '  that  little  difference  of  senti- 
ment existed  in  the  early  Church  respecting  the  books  to  be 
included  in  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament.  All,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Gnostics  and  some  other  heretics,  recognized 
the  claims  of  the  four  Gospels,'  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
of  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  of  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter,  and  of 
the  First  Epistle  of  John.  Though,  for  a  time,  some  Churches 
hesitated  to  acknowledge  the  remaining  epistles,  their  doubts 
seem  to  have  been  gradually  dissipated."  At  first  the  genu- 
ineness of  the  Apocalypse  was  undisputed ;  but,  after  the  rise 
of  the  Montanists,  who  were  continually  quoting  it  in  proof 
of  their  theory  of  a  millennium,  some  of  their  antagonists 
foolishly  questioned  its  authority.  At  an  early  period  two 
or  three  tracts ''  written  by  uninspired  men  were  received  as 
Scripture  by  a  number  of  Churches.     They  were  never,  how- 

'  Homil.  xxxix.  on  Jer.  xliv.  22. 

*  Period  i.,  sec.  ii.,  chap,  i„  p,  163. 

*  The  fathers  traced  analogies  between  the  four  Gospels  and  the  four 
cardinal  points,  the  living  creatures  with  four  faces,  and  the  four  rivers  of 
Paradise.  See  Irenaeus,  lib.  iii.,  c.  xi.,  §  8;  and  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixxiii., 
Opera,  p.  281. 

*  See  Euseb.  vi.  25. 

*  Such  as  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas  and  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas. 


SCRIPTURE   AND   TRADITION.  4O9 

ever,  generally  acknowledged ;    and  at  length,   by  common 
consent,  were  excluded  from  the  canon.' 

The  code  of  heathen  morality  supplied  a  ready  apology  for 
falsehood,"  and  its  accommodating  principles  soon  found  too 
much  encouragement  within  the  pale  of  the  Church.  Hence 
the  pious  frauds  which  were  now  perpetrated.  Various  works 
made  their  appearance  with  the  name  of  some  apostolic  man 
appended  to  them,^  their  fabricators  thus  hoping  to  give  cur- 
rency to  opinions  or  practices  which  might  otherwise  have  en- 
countered much  opposition.  At  the  same  time  many  evinced 
•a  disposition  to  supplement  the  silence  of  the  Written  Word 
by  the  aid  of  tradition.  But  though  the  writers  of  the  period 
sometimes  lay  undue  stress  on  the  evidence  of  this  vague  wit- 
ness, they  often  resort  to  it  merely  as  an  offset  against  state- 
ments professedly  derived  from  the  same  source  which  were 
brought  forward  by  the  heretics ;  and  they  invariably  admit 
that  the  authority  of  Scripture  is  entitled  to  override  the 
authority  of  tradition.  "  The  Lord  in  the  Gospel,  reproving 
and  rebuking,  declares,"  says  Cyprian,  "  ye  reject  the  com- 
mandment of  God  that  ye  may  keep  your  own  tradition."  .... 
Custom  should  not  be  an  obstacle  that  the  truth  prevail  not 
and  overcome,  for  a  custom  without  truth  is  error  inveterate!'  * 
"  What  obstinacy  is  that,  or  what  presumption,  to  prefer 
human  tradition  to  divine  ordinances,  and  not  to  perceive  that 
God  is  displeased  and  provoked,  as  often  as  human  tradition 
relaxes  and  sets  aside  the  divine  command."  *  During  this 
period  the  uncertainty  of  any  other  guide  than  the  inspired 
record  was  repeatedly  demonstrated  ;  for,  though  Christians 
were  removed  at  so  short  a  distance  from  apostolic  times,  the 

See  Westcott  on  the  Canon,  pp.  452,  453. 

"The  opinion  that  falsehood  was  allowable,  and  might  even  be  neces- 
sary to  guide  the  multitude,  was,"  says  Neander,  "a  principle  inbred  into 
the  aristocratic  spirit  of  the  old  world." — General  History,  ii.  p.  72. 

3  Such  as  the  numerous  works  ascribed  to  Clemens  Romanus  and  the 
Ignatian  Epistles. 

*  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixxiv.,  p.  294. 

'  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixxiv.,  p.  296.  '  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixxiv.,  p.  294. 


4IO  ORIGINAL   SIN. 

traditions  of  one  Church  sometimes  diametrically  contradicted 
those  of  another.' 

There  is  certainly  nothing  like  uniformity  in  the  language 
employed  by  the  Christian  writers  of  this  era  when  treating  of 
doctrinal  subjects  ;  and  yet  their  theology  was  essentially  the 
same.  All  apparently  admit  the  corruption  of  human  nature. 
Justin  Martyr  speaks  of  a  concupiscence  in  every  man,  evil  in 
all  its  tendencies  and  various  in  its  nature," "  whilst  Tertullian 
mentions  original  sin  under  the  designation  of  "the  vice  of 
our  origin."  ^  Our  first  parent,  says  he,  "  having  been  seduced 
into  disobedience  by  Satan,  was  delivered  over  to  death,  and 
transmitted  his  condemnation  to  the  whole  human  race,  which 
v^diS  infected  from  his  seed.'' *'  Though  the  ancient  fathers  oc- 
casionally describe  free  will  in  terms  which  apparently  ignore 
the  existence  of  indwelling  depravity,^  their  language  is  not  to 
be  too  strictly  interpreted,  as  it  only  implies  a  strong  protest 
against  the  heathen  doctrine  of  fate,  and  a  recognition  of  the 
principle  that  man  is  a  voluntary  agent.  Thus  it  is  that  Cle- 
mens Alexandrinus,  one  of  the  writers  who  asserts  most   de- 

'  The  conflicting  traditions  relative  to  the  time  of  keeping  the  Paschal 
feast  afiford  a  striking  illustration  of  this  fact. 
'^  See  Kaye's  "  Justin  Martyr,"  p.  75. 

*  "Originis  vitium."  "  Malum  igitur  animas  ....  ex  originis  vitio  ante- 
cedit." — De  Animd,  c.  \\.  Cyprian  calls  it  "  contagio  antiqua."  "  Inno- 
vati  SpirituSancto  a  sordibus  contagionis  antiquas." — De  H'ibitu  Virgiiitim, 
cap.  iv. 

*  "  Per  quern  (Satanan)  homo  a  primordio  circumventus,  ut  pra2ceptum 
Dei  excederet,  et  propterea  in  mortem  datus  exinde  totum  genus  de  sue 
semine  infectum  suae  etiam  damnationis  traducem  fecit." — De  Testimonio 
Aniince,  c.  iii. 

*  "  Nothing  can  be  less  systematic  or  less  organized  than  their  notions  on 
this  subject;  I  might  say,  often  even  contradictory;  such  inconsistency 
partly,  perhaps,  arising  from  the  point  never  having  been  canvassed  by  men 

with  any  care,  as  it  eventually  was  by  controversialists  of  a  later  day 

and  partly  from  the  embarrassment  of  their  position  ;  for  whilst  Scripture 
and  self-experience  compelled  them  to  admit  the  grievous  corruption  of  our 
nature,  they  had  perpetually  to  contend  against  a  powerful  body  of  heretics, 
who  made  such  corriiplion  the  ground  for  affirming  that  a  world  so  evil 
could  not  have  been  created  liy  a  good  God,  but  was  the  work  of  a  Demiur- 
gus." — Blunt's  Early  Fathers,  pp.  585,  586. 


WORSHIP   OF   CHRIST.  4II 

cidedly  the  freedom  of  the  will,  admits  the  necessity  of  a  new 
birth  unto  righteousness.  "  The  Father,"  says  he,  "  regener- 
ates by  the  Spirit  unto  adoption  all  who  flee  to  Him."  '  "  Since 
the  soul  is  moved  of  itself,  the  grace  of  God  demands  from  it 
that  which  it  has,  namely,  a  ready  temper  as  its  contribution 
to  salvation.  For  the  Lord  wishes  that  the  good  zvhich  He  con- 
fers on  the  soul  should  be  its  own,  since  it  is  not  without  sen- 
sation, so  that  it  should  be  impelled  like  a  body."" 

No  fact  is  more  satisfactorily  attested  than  that  the  early 
disciples  rendered  divine  honors  to  our  Saviour.  In  the  very 
beginning  of  the  second  century,  a  heathen  magistrate,  who 
deemed  it  his  duty  to  make  minute  inquiries  respecting  them, 
reported  to  the  Roman  Emperor  that,  in  their  religious  as- 
semblies, they  sang  "  hymns  to  Christ  as  to  a  God."  '  They 
were  reproached  by  the  Gentiles,  as  well  as  by  the  Jews,  for 
worshipping  a  man  who  had  been  crucified.*  When  this  ac- 
cusation was  brought  against  them,  they  at  once  admitted  its 
truth,  and  undertook  to  show  that  the  act  was  perfectly 
capable  of  vindication.^  In  the  days  of  Justin  Martyr  there 
were  certain  professing  Christians,  probably  the  Ebionites,' 
who  held  the  simple  humanity  of  our  Lord,  but  that  writer 
represents  the  great  body  of  the  disciples  as  entertaining  very 
different  sentiments.  "  There  are  some  of  our  race,"  says  he, 
"who  confess  that  He  was  the  Christ,  but  affirm  that  He  was 
a  man  born  of  human  parents,  with  whom  I  do  not  agree, 
neither  should  I,  even  if  very  many,  who  entertain  the  same 

'  "  Paedagogne,"  lib.  i. 

"^  See  Kaye's  "  Clement,"  p.  432.  See  also  the  comments  of  Neander, 
"General  History,"  ii.  388.  '  Pliny's  Epistle  to  Trajan. 

*  See  various  passages  in  Justin's  Dialogue  with  Trypho,  and  in  Origen 
against  Celsus. 

"  Thus  Origen  says,  "  We  do  not  pay  the  highest  worship  to  Him  who 
appeared  so  lately,  as  to  a  person  who  had  no  previous  existence,  for  we  be- 
lieve Him  when  He  says  Himself,  '  Before  Abraham  was,  I  am.'" — Contra 
Celsum,  viii.,  §  12. 

*  The  origin  of  this  name  has  been  much  controverted.  It  is  probable 
that  it  was  derived  from  Ebion,  the  founder  of  the  sect.  See  Period  i.,  sect. 
ii.,  chap,  iii.,  p.  183.  Among  other  things  the  party  seem  to  have  inculcated 
voluntaiy  poverty. 


412  CHRIST   IS   GOD   AND   MAN. 

opinion  as  myself,  were  to  say  so ;  since  we  are  commanded 
by  Christ  to  attend,  not  to  the  doctrines  of  men,  but  to  that 
which  was  proclaimed  by  the  blessed  prophets,  and  taught  by 
Himself."  ' 

When  Justin  here  expresses  his  dissent  from  those  who  de- 
scribed our  Lord  as  "a  man  born  of  human  parents,"  he 
obviously  means  that  he  is  not  a  Humanitarian;  for,  in  com- 
mon with  the  early  Church,  he  held  the  doctrine  of  the  two 
•natures  in  Christ.  The  fathers  who  now  flourished,  when 
touching  on  the  question  of  the  union  of  humanity  and  deity 
in  the  person  of  the  Redeemer,  do  not,  it  is  true,  express 
themselves  always  with  as  much  precision  as  writers  who  ap- 
peared after  the  Eutychian  controversy  in  the  fifth  century  ; 
but  they  undoubtedly  believed  that  our  Lord  was  both  God 
and  man."  Even  already  the  subject  was  pressed  on  their  at- 
tention by  various  classes  of  errorists  who  were  laboring  with 
much  assiduity  to  disseminate  their  principles.  The  Gnostics, 
who  affirmed  that  the  body  of  Jesus  was  a  phantom,  shut 
them  up  to  the  necessity  of  showing  that  He  really  possessed 
all  the  attributes  of  a  human  being;  whilst,  in  meeting  objec- 
tors'from  a  different  quarter,  they  were  compelled  to  demon- 
strate that  He  was  also  the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  Ebionites  were  not  the  only  sectaries  who  taught  that 
Jesus  was  a  mere  man.  The  same  doctrine  was  inculcated  by 
Theodotus,  a  native  of  Byzantium,  who  settled  at  Rome  about 
the  end  of  the  second  century.  This  individual,  though  by  trade 
a  tanner,  possessed  no  small  amount  of  learning,  and  created 
some  disturbance  in  the  Church  of  the  Western  capital  by  the 
novelty  and  boldness  of  his  speculations.     In  the  end  he  was 

'  This  passage,  which  is  somewhat  obscure  as  it  stands  in  the  original, 
has  been  misinterpreted  by  Unitarian  writers  from  generation  to  generation. 
The  rendering  which  they  commonly  give  of  it  makes  it  tjuite  inconsistent 
with  the  context,  and  with  the  statements  of  Justin  elsewhere.  See  Kaye's 
"  Justin,"  p.  51. 

'  Thus  Tertuilian  says,  "  The  only  man  without  sin  is  Christ,  because 
Christ  is  aho  God." — De  Am'ma,  cap.  xli.  Justin  Martyr  complains  that 
the  Jews  had  expunged  from  the  Septuagint  many  passages  "  wherein  it 
might  be  clearly  shown  that  He  who  was  crucified  was  (J£>//;  God  and  man." 
— Dialogue  with  Try p ho,  §  71. 


PAUL   OF   SAMOSATA.  413 

excommunicated  by  Victor,  the  Roman  bishop.  Some  time 
afterward  his  sentiments  were  adopted  by  Artemon,  whose 
disciples,  named  Artemonites,  elected  a  bishop  of  their  own,' 
and  existed  for  some  time  at  Rome  as  a  distinct  community. 

But  by  far  the  most  distinguished  of  these  ancient  impugn- 
ers  of  the  proper  deity  of  the  Messiah  was  the  celebrated  Paul 
of  Samosata,  who  flourished  shortly  after  the  middle  of  the 
third  century.  Paul  occupied  the  bishopric  of  Antioch,  the 
second  see  in  Christendom  ;  and  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of 
superior  talent.  According  to  his  views,  the  Divine  Logos  is 
not  a  distinct  Person,  but  the  Reason  of  God  ;  and  Jesus  was 
the  greatest  of  the  sons  of  men,  simply  because  the  Logos 
dwelt  in  Him  after  a  higher  manner,  or  more  abundantly,  than 
in  any  other  of  the  posterity  of  Adam.''  But  though  this  prel- 
ate had  great  wealth,  influence,  and  eloquence,  his  heterodoxy 
soon  -raised  a  storm  of  opposition  which  he  could  not  with- 
stand. The  Christians  of  Antioch  in  the  third  century  refused 
to  tolerate  the  ministrations  of  a  preacher  who  insinuated  that 
the  Word  is  not  truly  God.  He  possessed  consummate  ad- 
dress, and  when  first  arraigned,  his  plausible  equivocations  and 
sophistries  imposed  upon  his  judges  ;  but,  at  a  subsequent 
council,  held  about  A.D.  269  in  the  metropolis  of  Syria,  he  was 
so  closely  pressed  by  Malchion,  one  of  his  own  presbyters, 
that  he  was  obliged  reluctantly  to  acknowledge  his  real  senti- 
ments. He  was,  in  consequence,  deposed  from  his  ofiice  by  a 
unanimous  vote  of  the  Synod.  A  circular  letter'  announcing 
the  decision  was  transmitted  to  the  leading  pastors  of  the 
Church  all  over  the  Empire,  and  this  ecclesiastical  deliverance 
received  their  universal  sanction.' 

The  theological  term  translated  Trinity"  was  in  use  as  early 

'  Euseb.  V.  28. 

2  Euseb.  V.  27,  30.     Epiphanius,  "  Haer."  65,  i. 

^  The  superscription  of  this  epistle  is  a  sufficient  refutation  of  much  of  the 
reasoning  of  Mr.  Shepherd  against  the  genuineness  of  the  Cyprianic  corre- 
spondence, as  here  the  names  of  a  crowd  of  bishops  are  given  without  any 
mention  whatever  of  their  sees.  See  also  Euseb.  x.  5,  p.  391,  Edit.  Vales, 
1672. 

*  Euseb.  vii.  30.  '  rpiaq  or  trinitas. 


414  THE   TRINITY. 

as  the  second  century  ;  for,  about  A.D.  i8o,  it  is  employed  by 
Theophilus,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  one  of  the  prede- 
cessors of  Paul  of  Samosata  in  the  Church  of  Antioch,'  Speak- 
ing of  the  formation  of  the  heavenly  bodies  on  the  fourth  day 
of  creation,  as  described  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  this 
writer  observes  :  "  The  three  days  which  preceded  the  lumina- 
ries are  types  of  the  Trinity^  of  God,  and  His  Word,  and  His 
Wisdom."  Here,  as  elsewhere  in  the  works  of  the  fathers  of 
the  early  Church,  the  third  person  of  the  Godhead  is  named 
under  the  designation  of  Wisdom.'  Though  this  is  the  first 
mention  of  the  word  Trinity  to  be  found  in  any  ecclesiastical 
document  now  extant,  it  is  plain  that  the  doctrine  is  of  far 
higher  antiquity.  Justin  Martyr  repeatedly  refers  to  it,  and 
Athenagoras,  who  flourished  in  the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius, 
treats  of  it  with  much  clearness.  "  We  speak,"  says  he,  "  of 
the  Father  as  God,  and  the  Son  as  God,  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
showing  at  the  same  time  their  power  in  unity,  and  their  dis- 
tinction in  order."  '  "  We  who  look  upon  this  present  life  as 
worth  little  or  nothing,  and  are  conducted  through  it  by  the 
sole  principle  of  knowing  God  and  the  Word  proceeding  from 
Him,  of  knowing  what  is  the  unity  of  the  Son  with  the  Father, 
what  the  Father  communicates  to  the  Son,  what  is  the  Spirit, 
what  is  the  union  of  this  number  of  Persons,  the  Spirit,  the  Son, 
and  the  Father,  and  in  what  way  they  who  are  united  are 
divided— shall  we  not  have  credit  given  us  for  being  worship- 
pers of  God  ?"  " 

The  attempts  made  in  the  latter  half  of  the  second  century 
to  pervert  the  doctrine  of  Scripture  relative  to  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  probably  led  to  the  appearance  of  the 

'  This  is,  however,  by  no  means  clear,  as  there  is  nothing  in  his  works  to 
indicate  that  he  held  such  a  position. 

'  "Ad  Autolycum,"  ii.,  c.  15.     t'vttol  naw  rf/c  Tp/ihW. 

2  Thus  Irenaius  says  :  "  There  is  ever  present  with  Him  (the  Father)  the 
Word  and  IVisdom,  the  Son  and  Spirit." — Contra  IJarcscs,  iv.  20,  §  i.  It 
may  here  be  proper  to  add  that  the  early  Christians  worshipped  the  third 
person  of  the  Trinity.  Thus,  Hippolytus  says:  "Through  Him  (the  Incar- 
nate Word)  we  form  a  conception  of  the  Father  ;  we  believe  in  the  Son  \ 
we  worship  the  Holy  Ghost." — Contra  Noctum,  c.  12. 

*  "  Legat.  pro  Christianis,"  c.  10.        '  "  Legat.  pro  Cliristianis,"  c.  12. 


MONARCHIANISM.  415 

word  Trinity  in  the  ecclesiastical  nomenclature  ;  for,  when 
controversy  commenced,  some  such  symbol  was  required  to 
prevent  the  necessity  of  constant  and  tedious  circumlocution. 
One  of  the  most  noted  of  the  parties,  dissatisfied  with  the 
ordinary  mode  of  speaking  respecting  the  Three  Divine  Per- 
sons, and  desirous  of  changing  the  current  creed,  was  Praxeas, 
a  native  of  Asia  Minor.  After  having  acquired  much  credit 
by  his  fortitude  and  courage  in  a  time  of  persecution,  he  had 
also  signalized  himself  by  his  zeal  against  the  Montanists. 
He  now  taught  that  the  Son  and  Holy  Ghost  are  not  distinct 
Persons,  but  simply  modes  or  energies  of  the  Father ;  and  as 
those  who  adopted  his  sentiments  imagined  that  they  thus 
held  more  strictly  than  others  the  doctrine  of  the  existence  of 
a  single  Ruler  of  the  universe,  they  styled  themsQlves  Mojiarc/i- 
ians.^  According  to  their  views  the  first  and  second  Persons 
of  the  Godhead  are  identical ;  and,  as  it  apparently  followed 
from  this  theory,  that  the  Father  suffered  on  the  cross,  they 
received  the  name  of  Patripassians^  Praxeas  travelled  from 
Asia  Minor  to  Rome,  and  afterward  passed  over  into  Africa, 
where  he  was  strenuously  opposed  by  the  famous  Tertullian. 
Another  individual,  named  Noetus,  attracted  some  notice 
about  the  close  of  the  second  century  by  the  peculiarity  of 
his  speculations  in  reference  to  the  Godhead.  "  Noetus,"  says 
a  contemporary, ."  calls  the  same  both  Son  and  Father,  for  he 
speaks  thus  :  '  When  the  Father  had  not  been  born.  He  was 
rightly  called  Father,  but  when  it  pleased  Him  to  undergo 
birth,  then  by  birth  He  became  the  Son  of  Himself,  and  not 
of  another.'  Thus  he  professes  to  establish  the  principle  of 
Monarchianism." '  But,  perhaps,  the  attempts  of  Sabellius  to 
modify  the  established  doctrine  made  the  deepest  impression. 
This  man,  who  was  an  ecclesiastic  connected  with  Ptolemais 
in  Africa,*  maintained  that  there  is  no  foundation  for  the  or- 
dinary distinction  of  the  Persons  of  the  Trinity,  and  that  the 

'  "  Monarchiam,  inquiunt,  tenemus." — Tertullian,  Adv.  Praxean,  c.  3. 
"  "  Athanas.  de  Synodis,"  c.  7. 
*  Hippolytus,  "  Philosophumena,"  book  ix. 

■•  He  flourished  about  A.D.  220,  and  was  contemporary  with  Hippolytus. 
See  Bunsen,  i.  131. 


4l6  THE  TRIxNITY  OF  PLATO. 

terms  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  merely  indicate  different 
manifestations  of  the  Supreme  Being,  or  different  phases  under 
which  the  one  God  reveals  Himself.  From  him  the  doctrine 
of  those  who  confound  the  Persons  of  the  Godhead  still  bears 
the  name  of  Sabellianism. 

It  has  been  sometimes  said  that  the  Church  borrowed  its 
idea  of  a  Trinity  from  Plato,  but  this  assertion  rests  upon  no 
historical  basis.  Learned  men  have  found  it  exceedingly  diffi- 
cult to  give  anything  like  an  intelligible  account  of  the  Trinity 
of  the  Athenian  philosopher,'  and  it  had  only  a  metaphysical 
existence.  It  certainly  had  nothing  more  than  a  fapciful  and 
verbal  resemblance  to  the  Trinity  of  Christianity.  Had  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church  been  derived  from  the  writings  of  the 
Grecian  sage,  it  would  not  have  been  inculcated  with  so  much 
zeal  and  unanimity  by  the  early  fathers.  Some  of  them  were 
bitterly  opposed  to  Platonism,  and  yet,  though  none  denounced 
it  more  vehemently  than  Tertullian,"  we  can  not  point  to  any 
one  of  them  who  speaks  of  the  Three  Divine  Persons  more 
clearly  or  copiously.  The  heretic  thinks,  says  he,  "  that  we 
can  not  believe  in  one  God  in  any  other  way  than  if  we  say 
that  the  very  same  Person  is  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 
....  These  persons  assume  the  number  and  arrangement  of 
the  Trinity  to  be  a  division  of  the  Unity;  whereas  the  Unity, 
which  derives  a  Trinity  from  itself,  is  not  destroyed  by  it,  but 
has  its  different  offices  performed.  They,  therefore,  boast 
that  two  and  three  Gods  are  preached  by  us,  but  that  they 
themselves  are  worshippers  of  one  God  ;  as  if  the  Unity,  when 
improperly  contracted,  did  not  create  heresy,  and  a  Trinity, 
when  properly  considered,  did  not  constitute  truth." ' 

Everyone  at  all  acquainted  with  the  ecclesiastical  literature 
of  this   period    must   acknowledge  that  the   disciples  firmly 

'  Hermias  speaks  of  the  Trinity  of  Plato  as  "  God,  and  matter,  and  ex- 
ample."—Sec.  5. 

"  "  Doleo  bona  fide  Platonem  omnium  haereticorum  condimentarium  fac- 
tum  Cum   igitur  hujusmodi  argumento  ilia  insinuentur  a  Platone 

qua;  hceretici  mutuantur,  satis  hasreticos  repcrcutiam,  si  argumentum  Pla- 
tonis  elidam." — De  Anima,  c.  23. 

'  "Adversus  Praxeam,"  c.  2,  3. 


THE   ATONEMENT.  417 

maintained  the  doctrine  of  the  Atonement.  The  Gnostics 
and  the  Manichaeans  discarded  this  article  from  their  systems, 
as  it  was  entirely  foreign  to  the  spirit  of  their  philosophy  ; 
but,  though  the  Church  teachers  enter  into  scarcely  any  ex- 
planation of  it,  by  attempting  to  show  how  the  violated  law 
required  a  propitiation,  they  proclaim  it  as  a  glorious  truth 
which  should  inspire  all  the  children  of  God  with  joy  and 
confidence.  Clemens  Alexandrinus  gives  utterance  only  to 
the  common  faith  when  he  declares,  "  Christians  are  redeemed 
from  corruption  by  the  blood  of  the  Lord."  "  The  Word 
poured  forth  His  blood  for  us  to  save  human  nature."  "  The 
Lord  gave  Himself  a  victim  for  us."  '  The  early  writers  also 
mention  faith  as  the  means  by  which  we  are  to  appropriate 
the  benefits  of  the  Redeemer's  sacrifice.  Thus,  Justin  Mar- 
tyr represents  Christ  as  "  purifying  by  His  blood  those  who 
believe  on  Him."  ^  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  in  like  manner, 
speaks  of  "the  one  mode  of  salvation  by  faith  in  God,"  ^  and 
says  that  "  we  have  believed  in  God  through  the  voice  of  the 
Word."  *  In  the  "  Letter  to  Diognetus  "  the  doctrine  of  jus- 
tification by  faith  through  the  imputed  righteousness  of  the 
Saviour  is  beautifully  exhibited.  "  For  what  else,"  says  the 
writer,  "  could  cover  our  sins  but  His  righteousness  ?  In 
whom  was  it  possible  that  we,  the  lawless  and  the  unholy, 
could  be  justified,  save  by  the  Son  of  God  alone?  Oh  sweet 
exchange  !  oh  unsearchable  wisdom  !  oh  unexpected  benefits  ! 
that  the  sin  of  many  should  be  hidden  by  One  righteous,  and 
the  righteousness  of  One  justify  many  sinners."  ' 

The  Church  of  the  second  and  third  centuries  was  not  agi- 
tated by  any  controversies  relative  to  grace  and  predestination. 
Few  were  disposed  to  indulge  in  speculations  on  these  subjects  ; 
and  some  of  the  ecclesiastical  writers,  in  the  heat  of  controversial 
discussion,  are  occasionally  tempted  to  make  use  of  language 
which  it  is  difficult  to  reconcile  with  the  declarations  of  the 
New  Testament.  All  of  them,  however,  either  explicitly  or 
virtually,  admit  the  necessity  of  grace ;  and  some  distinctly 

'  "  Paedagogue,"  book  i.,  c.  5,  6,  ii.  "  Opera,  p.  74. 

'  "  Peedagogue,"  book  i.,  c.  i.  *  "  Stromata,"  book  ii. 

'  Justin,  Opera,  p.  500. 
27 


4l8  DIVINE   GRACE. 

enunciate  the  doctrine  of  election.  "  We  stand  in  especial 
need  of  divine  grace,  and  right  instruction,  and  pure  affection," 
says  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  "  and  zee  require  that  the  Father 
should  draw  us  toward  Himself.''  "  God,  who  knows  the 
future  as  if  it  was  already  present,  knows  the  elect  according  to 
His  purpose  even  before  the  creation."  '  "  Your  power  to  do," 
says  Cyprian,  "  will  be  according  to  the  increase  of  spiritual 

grace What  measure  we  bring  thither  of  faith  to  hold, 

so  much  do  we  drink  in  of  grace  to  inundate.  Hereby  is 
strength  given."'  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  those  writers 
who  speak  most  decidedly  of  the  freedom  of  the  will,  also 
most  distinctly  proclaim  their  faith  in  the  perfection  of  the 
Divine  Sovereignty.  Thus,  Justin  Martyr  urges,  as  a  decisive 
proof  of  the  impious  character  of  their  theology,  that  the 
heathen  philosophers  repudiated  the  doctrine  of  a  particular 
providence ; '  and  all  the  ancient  fathers  are  ever  ready  to 
recognize  the  superintending  guardianship  of  God  in  the  com- 
mon affairs  of  life. 

But  though  the  creed  of  the  Church  was  still  to  some  extent 
substantially  sound,  it  was  beginning  to  suffer  much  from 
adulteration.  One  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  the 
Apostle  John,  spiritual  darkness  was  fast  settling  down  upon 
the  Christian  community ;  and  the  fathers,  who  flourished 
toward  the  commencement  of  the  third  century,  frequently 
employ  language  for  which  they  would  have  been  sternly  re- 
buked, had  they  lived  in  the  days  of  the  apostles  and  evangel- 
ists. Thus,  we  find  them  speaking  of  "sins  cleansed  by  re- 
pentance," '  and  of  repentance  as  "  the  price  at  which  the 
Lord    has  determined  to  grant   forgiveness." '     We  read  of 

'  See  Kaye's  "  Clement,"  pp.  431,  435. 

*  Epist.  i.  ad  Donatum,  Opera,  p.  3. 

«  The  philosophers,  according  to  Justin,  maintained  a  general,  but  denied 
a  particular  providence.  Dial,  with  Trypho,  Opera,  p.  218.  Some  who 
call  themselves  Christians  adopt  this  portion  of  the  pagan  theology. 

* "  Non  facti  solum,  verum  et  voluntatis  delicta  vitanda,  et  poenitentia 
purganda  esse." — Tcrtidlian,  De  Pcenitcntia,  c.  iii. 

'  "  Hoc  enim  pretio  Dominus  veniam  addicera  inslituit." — Tert.  De  Pce- 
nit.,  c.  vi. 


PATRISTIC   ERRORS.  419 

*^  sins  cleansed  hy  alms  and  faith,"  '  and  of  the  martyr,  by  his 
sufferings,  "washing  away  his  own  iniquities.'"'  We  are  told 
that  by  baptism  "  we  are  cleansed  from  all  our  sins,"  and  "  re- 
gain that  Spirit  of  God  which  Adam  received  at  his  creation 
and  lost  by  his  transgression."  '  "  The  pertinacious  wicked- 
ness of  the  Devil,"  says  Cyprian,  "has  power  up  to  the  savuig 
zvater,  but  in  baptism  he  loses  all  the  poison  of  his  wicked- 
ness." ■*  The  same  writer  insists  on  the  necessity  of  penance,  a 
species  of  discipline  unknown  to  the  Apostolic  Church,  and 
denounces,  with  terrible  severity,  those  who  discouraged  its 
performance.  "  By  the  deceitfulness  of  their  lies,"  says  he, 
they  interfere,  "that  satisfaction  be  not  given  to  God  in  His 

anger All  pains  are  taken  that  sins  be  not  expiated  by 

due  satisfactions  and  lamentations,  that  wounds  be  not  washed 
clean  by  tears."  '  It  may  be  said  that  some  of  these  expres- 
sions are  rhetorical,  and  that  those  by  whom  they  were  em- 
ployed did  not  mean  to  deny  the  all-sufficiency  of  the  Great 
Sacrifice  ;  but  had  these  fathers  clearly  apprehended  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith  in  Christ,  they  would  have  re- 
coiled from  the  use  of  language  so  exceedingly  objectionable. 
There  are  many  who  imagine  that,  had  they  lived  in  the 
days  of  Tertullian  or  of  Origen,  they  must  have  enjoyed 
spiritual  advantages  far  higher  than  any  to  which  they  have 
now  access.  But  a  more  minute  acquaintance  with  the  eccle- 
siastical history  of  the  third  century  should  convince  them 
that  they  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  their  present  privi- 
leges. The  amount  of  material  light  which  surrounds  us  does 
not  depend  on  our  proximity  to  the  sun.  When  our  planet 
is  most  remote  from  its  great  luminary,  we  may  bask  in  the 
splendor  of  his  effulgence  ;  and,  when  it  approaches  nearer, 
we  may  be  involved  in  thick  darkness.     So  it  is  with  the 

•  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  "  Strom."  book  vi. 

^  "  Sufficiat  martyri  propria  delicta  purgasse." — Tertullian,  De  Pudicitia, 
c.  22. 

^  See  Kaye's  "  Tertullian,"  p,  431.  Origen  speaks  of  the  baptism  of  blood 
(martyrdom)  rendering  us  purer  than  the  baptism  of  water.  Opera,  ii., 
P-  473- 

*  Epist.  Ixxvi.,  Opera,  p.  322.  ^  Epist.  Iv.,  p.  i8r. 


420  THE   LIGHT   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

Church.  The  amount  of  our  religious  knowledge  does  not 
depend  on  our  proximity  to  the  days  of  primitive  Christianity. 
The  Bible  is  the  sun  of  the  spiritual  firmament ;  and  this 
divine  illuminator,  like  the  glorious  orb  of  day,  pours  forth  its 
light  with  equal  brilliancy  from  generation  to  generation. 
The  Church  may  retire  into  "  chambers  of  imagery"  erected 
by  her  own  folly  ;  and  there,  with  the  light  shut  out  from  her, 
may  sink  into  a  slumber  Sisturbed  only,  now  and  then,  by 
some  dream  of  superstition  ;  or,  with  the  light  still  shining 
on  her,  her  eye  may  be  dim  or  disordered ,  and  she  may 
stumble  at  noonday.  But  the  light  is  as  pure  as  in  the  days 
of  the  apostles  ;  and,  if  we  have  eyes  to  profit  by  it,  we  may 
"  understand  more  than  the  ancients."  The  art  of  printing 
has  supplied  us  with  facilities  for  the  study  of  the  Scriptures 
which  were  denied  to  the  fathers  of  the  second  century  ;  and 
the  ecclesiastical  documents,  relative  to  that  age,  which  have 
been  transmitted  to  us  from  antiquity,  contain,  perhaps,  the 
greater  part  of  even  the  traditionary  information  which  was 
preserved  in  the  Church.  If  we  are  only  "  taught  of  God," 
we  are  in  as  good  a  position  for  acquiring  a  correct  acquaint- 
ance with  the  way  of  salvation  as  was  Polycarp  or  Justin 
Martyr.  What  an  encouragement  for  every  one  to  pray, 
"  Open  thou  mine  eyes,  that  I  may  behold  wondrous  things 
out  of  thy  law.  I  am  a  stranger  in  the  earth  :  hide  not  thy 
commandments  from  me  !  "  ' 

'  Ps.  cxix.  1 8,  19. 


SECTION  III. 

THE   WORSHIP  AND   CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   CHURCH. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE   WORSHIP   OF  THE   CHURCH. 

The  religion  of  the  primitive  Christians  seemed  exceedingly 
strange  to  their  pagan  contemporaries.  The  heathen  worship 
was  little  better  than  a  solemn  show.  Its  victims  adorned  with 
garlands,  its  incense  and  music  and  lustral  water,  its  priests 
arrayed  in  white  robes,  and  its  marble  temples  with  gilded 
roofs,  were  fitted,  rather  to  fascinate  the  senses,  than  to  im- 
prove the  heart  or  expand  the  intellect.  Even  the  Jewish  rit- 
ual, in  the  days  of  its  glory,  had  a  powerful  effect  on  the  im- 
agination. As  the  Israelites  assembled  from  all  quarters  at 
their  great  festivals — as  they  poured  in  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  into  the  courts  of  their  ancient  sanctuary — as  they 
surveyed  the  various  parts  of  a  structure  which  was  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world — as  they  beheld  the  priests  in  their  holy 
garments — as  they  listened  to  the  mingled  strains  of  vocal  and 
instrumental  harmony — and  as  they  gazed  on  the  high-priest 
himself,  whose  forehead  glittered  with  gold  whilst  his  breast- 
plate sparkled  with  precious  stones,  they  felt  that  they  wit- 
nessed a  scene  of  extraordinary  splendor.  But,  when  Chris- 
tianity made  its  appearance  in  the  world,  it  presented  none  of 
these  attractions.  Its  adherents  were  stigmatized  as  atheists,' 
because  they  had  no  altars,  no  temples,  and  no  sacrifices.  Thej^ 
held  their  meetings  in  private  dwellings ;  their  ministers  wore 
no  peculiar  dress ;  and,  by  all  who  sought  merely  the  gratifica- 

>  See  the  Apology  of  Athenagoras,  sees.  3,  10 ;  and  Minucius  Felix,  c.  10. 

(421) 


422  RELIGIOUS  EDIFICES. 

tion  of  the  eye  or  of  the  ear,  the  simple  service  in  which  they 
engaged  was  considered  very  bald  and  uninteresting.  But  they 
rejoiced  exceedingly  in  its  spiritual  character,  as  they  felt  that 
they  thus  drew  near  to  God,  and  held  sweet  and  refreshing 
communion  with  their  Father  in  heaven. 

During  a  considerable  part  of  the  second  century,  the  Chris- 
tians had  comparatively  few  buildings  set  apart  for  public  wor- 
ship. At  a  time  when  they  congregated  to  celebrate  the  rites 
of  their  religion  at  night  or  before  break  of  day,  they  were  not 
anxious  to  obtrude  their  conventicles  on  the  notice  of  their 
persecutors.  But  as  they  increased  in  numbers,  and  as  the 
State  became  somewhat  more  indulgent,  they  gradually  ac- 
quired confidence  ;  and,  in  the  beginning  of  the  third  century, 
the  form  of  their  ecclesiastical  structures  was  already  familiar 
to  the  eyes  of  the  heathen.'  Shortly  after  that  period,  their 
meeting-houses  in  Rome  were  well  known  ;  and,  in  the  reign  of 
Alexander  Severus,  they  ventured  to  dispute  with  one  of  the 
city  trades  the  possession  of  a  piece  of  ground  on  which  they 
were  desirous  to  erect  a  place  of  worship.''  When  the  case 
came  for  adjudication  before  the  Imperial  tribunal,  the  sover- 
eign  decided  in  their  favor,  and  thus  virtually  placed  them 
under  the  shield  of  his  protection.  When  the  Emperor  Gal- 
lienus,  in  A.D.  260,  issued  an  edict  of  toleration,  church  archi- 
tecture advanced  apace,  and  many  of  the  old  buildings,  which 
were  falling  into  decay,  were  superseded  by  edifices  at  once 
more  capacious  and  more  tasteful.  The  Christians  at  this  time 
began  to  emulate  the  magnificence  of  the  heathen  temples,  and 
even  to  ape  their  arrangements.  Thus  it  is  that  some  of  our 
churches  at  the  present  day  are  nearly  fac-similcs  of  the  an- 
cient religious  edifices  of  paganism." 

In  addition  to  the  administration  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper,  the  worship  of  the  early  Church  consisted  of  singing, 
prayer,  reading  the  Scriptures,  and  preaching.  In  the  earliest 
notice  of  the  Christians  of  the  second  century  which  occurs  in 

'  "  Nostrae  columbas  etiam  domus  simplex,  in  editis  semper  et  apertis,  et 
ad  luccm." — Tcrtullian,  Advers.  Valent.,  c.  3. 
'  Life  of  Aiexaiider  Severus,  by  Lampridius,  c.  49. 
^  See  Kennett's  "  Antiquities  of  Rome,"  p.  41. 


CHRISTIAN   PSALMODY.  423 

any  pagan  writer,  their  psalmody,  with  which  they  commenced 
their  rehgious  services,'  is  particularly  mentioned  ;  for,  in  his 
celebrated  letter  to  the  Emperor  Trajan,  Pliny  states  that  they 
met  together,  before  the  rising  of  the  sun,  to  "sing  hymns  to 
Christ  as  to  a  God."  It  is  probable  that  some  of  the  "  hymns  " 
here  spoken  of  were  the  Psalms  of  the  Old  Testament.  Many 
of  these  inspired  effusions  celebrate  the  glories  of  Immanuel ; 
and  as,  for  obvious  reasons,  the  Messianic  Psalms  would  be 
used  more  frequently  than  any  others,  it  is  not  strange  that 
the  disciples  are  represented  as  assembling  to  sing  praise  to 
Christ.  But  the  Church  at  this  time  was  not  confined  to  the 
ancient  Psalter.  Hymns  of  human  composition  were  occasion- 
ally employed  ;*  and  one  of  these,  to  be  found  in  the  writings 
of  Clement  of  Alexandria,'  was,  perhaps,  sung  in  the  early  part 
of  the  third  century  by  the  Christians  of  the  Egyptian  capital. 
Influential  bishops  sometimes  introduced  them  by  their  own 
authority,  but  the  practice  awakened  suspicion,  and  was  con- 
sidered irregular.  Hence  Paul  of  Samosata,  in  the  Council  of 
Antioch,  held  A.D.  269,  was  blamed  for  discontinuing  the 
Psalms  formerly  used,  and  for  establishing  a  new  and  very  ex- 
ceptionable hymnology.* 

In  the  early  Church  the  whole  congregation  joined  in  the 
singing,*  but  instrumental  music  did  not  accompany  the  praise. 
In  the  secret  assemblies  of  the  faithful  its  employment  would 
have  been  inexpedient  and  unseasonable,  as  it  would  only  have 
increased  unnecessarily  the  perils  of  a  proscribed  community. 

'  Bingham  has  proved,  by  a  variety  of  testimonies,  that  such  was  the  order 
of  the  ancient  service.  See  his  "  Origines,"  iv.  383,  406,  417.  The  early 
Christians  thus  literally  obeyed  the  commandment,  "  Come  before  his  pres- 
ence with  singing  ";  "Enter  into  his  gates  with  thanksgiving,  and  into  his 
courts  with  praise." — (Ps.  c.  2,  4). 

"^  See  I  Cor.  xiv.  26.     See  also  Euseb.  v.  28. 

'  At  the  end  of  his  "  Paedagogue."  This  hymn  to  the  Saviour  was  com- 
posed by  Clement  himself.  The  59th  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Laodicea  for- 
bids the  use  of  "  private  psalms  "  in  public  worship.  By  "  private  psalms  " 
the  ancient  interpreters  understand  psalms  composed  by  private  individuals 
and  not  adopted  by  the  church.     The  Council  of  Laodicea  was  held  about 

A.D.  360. 

*  Euseb.  vii.  30.  ■*  See  Bingham  i.,  p.  383.     Edit.  London,  1840. 


424  NO  READING  OF  PRAYERS. 

After  ages  of  disuse,  it  became  associated,  in  the  minds  of  the 
disciples,  with  the  superannuated  ritual  of  the  Jews,  or  the  noisy 
orgies  of  the  heathen  ;  so  that  on  the  advent  of  more  prosper- 
ous times,  when  it  might  have  been  practiced  without  danger, 
the  members  of  the  Church  generally  felt  little  inclination  to 
encourage  it,  knowing  that  it  might  give  off  ence  as  a  deviation 
from  their  long-established  form  of  service.  Early  in  the  third 
century  Clemens  Alexandrinus  admits'  that  the  music  of  the 
harp  or  lyre  might  be  used  without  blame  in  the  private  de- 
votional exercises  of  the  Christians ;  but  he  looked  with  dis- 
favor on  its  introduction  into  the  congregational  worship. 

The  account  of  the  worship  of  the  Church,  given  by  a 
Christian  writer  who  flourished  about  the  middle  of  the  second 
century,  is  exceedingly  instructive.  "  On  the  day  which  is 
called  Sunday,"  says  Justin  Martyr,  "there  is  a  meeting  to- 
gether in  one  place  of  all  who  dwell  either  in  towns  or  in  the 
country ;  and  the  memoirs  of  the  apostles  or  the  writings  of 
the  prophets  are  read,  as  long  as  the  time  permits.  When  the 
reading  ceases,  the  president  delivers  a  discourse,  in  which  he 
makes  an  application  and  exhorts  to  the  imitation  of  these 
good  things.  We  then  rise  all  together  and  pray.  Then  .... 
when  we  cease  from  prayer,  bread  is  brought,  and  wine  and 
water;  and  the  president,  in  like  manner,  offers  up  prayers  and 
thanksgivings  according  to  his  ability  '^  and  the  people  ex- 
press their  assent  by  saying  Amen.'"  It  is  abundantly  clear 
from  this  statement  that  the  presiding  minister  was  not  re- 
stricted to  any  set  form  of  supplication.  As  he  prayed  "  accord- 
ing to  his  ability,"  his  petitions  could  neither  have  been  dic- 
tated by  others  nor  taken  from  a  liturgy.  Such  a  practice  as 
the  reading  of  prayers  was,  indeed,  totally  unknown  in  the 
Church  during  the  first  three  centuries.  Hence  Tertullian  rep- 
resents the  Christians  of  his  generation  as  praying  "  looking 
«/>  with  hands  spread  open,  ....  and  zvithont  a  prompter,  be- 

'  "Paedag."  ii.  4. 

«  Ixjti  iSvvafur.     See  Origen,  "  Contra  Celsum,"  iii.  i  and  57 ;  Opera,  i.  447, 
485. 

^  "  Apol."  ii.,  p.  98, 


ATTITUDES   IN   PRAYER.  425 

cause  from  the  heart."'  In  his  "Treatise  on  Prayer"  Origen 
recommends  the  worshipper  to  address  God  with  stretched-out 
hands  and  uplifted  eyes.''  The  erect  body  with  the  arms  ex- 
tended was  supposed  to  represent  the  cross/  and  therefore  this 
attitude  was  deemed  pecuHarly  appropriate  for  devotion."  On 
the  Lord's  day  the  congregation  always  stood  when  addressing 
God.^  At  this  period  forms  of  prayer  were  used  in  the  heathen 
worship,"  and  in  some  cases  the  pagans  adhered  with  singular 
tenacity  to  their  ancient  liturgies ; '  but  the  Church  did  not 

'  "  Suspicientes  Christiani  manibus  expansis  denique  sine  monitore,  quia 
de  pectore  oramus." — Apol.  c.  30.  The  omission  of  a  single  word,  when 
repeating  the  heathen  liturgy,  was  considered  a  great  misfortune.  Cheval- 
lier  says,  speaking  of  this  expression  sine  monitore,  "  There  is  probably  an 
allusion  to  the  persons  who  were  appointed,  at  the  sacrifices  of  the  Romans, 
to  prompt  the  magistrates,  lest  they  should  incidentally  omit  a  single  word 
in  the  appropriate  formute,  which  would  have  vitiated  the  whole  proceed- 
ings."—  Translation  of  the  Epistles  of  Clement,  etc.,  p.  41 1,  note.  Among 
the  heathen,  the  practice  of  repeating  after  the  minister  was  connected  with 
the  use  of  a  liturgy.  "  After  sacrificing,  the  augur  offered  a  prayer  for  the 
desired  signs  to  s^-^^^tlx  , repeating  after  an  inferior  minister  a  set  form." — 
Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  Art.  Auspicium. 

"^  Opera  i.,  267.  ^  See  Minucius  Felix. 

*■  Tertullian,  "De  Oratione,"  c.  14. 

^  See  Bingham,  iv.  324.  In  prayer  the  Christians  soon  began  to  turn  the 
face  to  the  east.  See  Tertullian,  "  Apol."  c.  16.  This  custom  was  borrowed 
from  the  Eastern  nations  who  worshipped  the  sun.  See  Kaye's  "  Tertul- 
lian," p.  408. 

*  Thus  Prideaux  mentions  how  the  Persian  priests,  long  before  the  com- 
mencement of  our  era,  approached  the  sacred  fire  "  to  read  the  daily  of- 
fices of  their  Liturgy  before  it." — Connections,  part  i.,  book  iv.,  vol.  i.,  p.  218. 
This  liturgy  was  composed  by  Zoroaster  nearly  five  hundred  years  before 
Christ's  birth.  See  also  Rawlinson's  "  Herodotus, "  ii.  85,  where  the  sa- 
cred scribe  is  said  to  "  read  from  a  papyrus  certain  prayers  in  presence  of 
the  assembled  pastophori,  or  members  of  the  Sacred  College.  " 

'  See  Clarkson  on  "  Liturgies,"  and  Hartung,  "  Religion  der  Romer."  It 
is  remarkable  that  the  old  pagan  Roman  liturgy,  in  consequence  of  the 
change  in  the  language  from  the  time  of  its  original  establishment,  began 
at  length  to  be  almost  unintelligible  to  the  people.  It  thus  resembles  the 
present  Romish  Liturgy.  The  pagans  believed  that  their  prayers  were 
more  successful  when  offered  up  in  a  barbarous  and  unknown  language. 
See  Potter's  "  Antiquities  of  Greece,"  i.  288.  Edit.  Edinburgh,  1818.  The 
Lacedaemonians  had  a  form  of  prayer  from  which  they  never  varied  either 
in  public  or  private.     Potter,  i.  281. 


426  READING   OF   SCRIPTURE. 

yet  require  the  aid  of  such  auxiharies.  Though  in  the  account 
of  the  losses  sustained  during  the  Diocletian  persecution,  we 
read  frequently  of  the  seizure  of  the  Scriptures,  and  of  the 
ecclesiastical  utensils,  we  never  meet  with  any  allusion  to  the 
spoliation  of  prayer-books.'  There  is,  in  fact,  no  evidence 
whatever  that  such  helps  to  devotion  were  yet  in  existence.* 

The  worship  was  conducted  in  a  dialect  understood  by  the 
congregation  ;  and  though  the  officiating  minister  was  at  per- 
fect liberty  to  select  his  phraseology,  he  did  not  think  it 
necessary  to  aim  at  great  variety  in  the  mere  language  of  his 
devotional  exercises.  So  long  as  a  petition  was  deemed  suit- 
able, it  continued  to  be  repeated  in  nearly  the  same  words, 
whilst  providential  interpositions,  impending  persecutions,  and 
the  personal  condition  of  the  flock  were  continually  suggesting 
fresh  topics  for  thanksgiving,  supplication,  and  confession. 
The  beautiful  and  comprehensive  prayer  taught  by  our  Lord 
to  His  disciples  was  never  considered  out  of  place  ;  and,  as 
early  as  the  third  century,  it  was,  at  least  in  some  districts, 
used  once  at  every  meeting  of  the  faithful.'  The  apostle  had 
taught  the  brethren  that  intercessions  should  be  made  "  for 
kings  and  for  all  that  are  in  authority,"  *  and  the  primitive 
disciples  did  not  neglect  to  commend  their  earthly  rulers  to 
the  care  of  the  Sovereign  of  the  universe.^  But  still  it  is  clear 
that  even  such  petitions  did  not  run  in  the  channel  of  any  pre- 
scribed formulary. 

From  the  very  days  of  the  apostles  the  reading  of  the  Script- 
ures constituted  an  important  part  of  public  worship.  This 
portion  of  the  service  was  at  first,  perhaps,  conducted  by  one 
of  the  elders,  but,  in    some  places,  toward   the  close  of  the 

'  "  In  the  persecutions  under  Diocletian  and  his  associates,  though  a 
strict  inquiry  was  made  after  the  books  of  Scripture,  and  other  things  be- 
longing to  the  Church,  which  we'"e  often  delivered  up  by  the  Traiiitores 
to  be  burnt,  yet  we  never  read  of  any  ritual  books,  or  books  of  divine  serv- 
ice, delivered  up  among  them." — Bingham,  iv.  187. 

'  In  modern  times,  when  there  is  any  great  revival  of  religion,  forms  of 
prayer  fall  into  comparative  desuetude  even  among  those  i)y  whom  they 
were  formerly  used. 

'  See  Tertuilian,  "  De  Oratione,"  c.  9;  and  Origen,  "  De  Orationc." 

*  I  Tim.  ii.  2.  "  Tertuilian,  "  Apol."  c.  39. 


MODE   OF   PREACHING.  427 

second  centiir}'^,  it  was  committed  to  a  new  official,  called  the 
Reader.'  The  presiding  minister  was  permitted  originally  to 
choose  whatever  passages  he  considered  most  fitting  for  the 
occasion,  as  well  as  to  determine  the  amount  of  time  to  be  oc- 
cupied in  the  exercise  ;  but,  at  length,  an  order  of  lessons  was 
prepared,  and  then  the  Reader  was  expected  to  confine  him- 
self to  the  Scriptures  pointed  out  in  his  calendar."  This  ar- 
rangement, designed  to  secure  a  more  uniform  attention  to 
the  several  parts  of  the  inspired  canon,  came  only  gradually 
into  general  operation  ;  and  it  frequently  happened  that  the 
order  of  lessons  for  one  church  was  very  different  from  that 
used  in  another.' 

Whilst  the  constant  reading,  in  the  vernacular  tongue,  of 
considerable  portions  of  Scripture  at  public  worship,  promoted 
the  religious  instruction  of  the  people,  the  mode  of  preach- 
ing which  prevailed  contributed  to  make  them  still  more  in- 
timately acquainted  with  the  sacred  records.  The  custom  of 
selecting  a  text  as  the  basis  of  a  discourse  had  not  yet  been 
introduced ;  but  when  the  reading  closed,  the  minister  pro- 
ceeded to  expatiate  on  that  section  of  the  Word  just  brought 
under  the  notice  of  the  congregation,  and  pointed  out,  as  well 
the  doctrines  it  recognized,  as  the  practical  lessons  it  incul- 
cated. The  entire  presbytery  was  usually  present  in  the  con- 
gregation every  Lord's  day,  and  when  one  or  other  of  the 
elders  had  made  a  few  comments  '  the  president  added  some 
remarks  of  an  expository  and  hortatory  character;  but,  fre- 
quently, he  received  no  assistance  in  this  part  of  the  service. 
The  method  of  reading  and  elucidating  the  Scripture  now 
pursued,  was  eminently  salutary  ;  for,  whilst  it  stored  the 
memory  with  a  large  share  of  biblical  knowledge,  the  whole 
Word  of  God,  in  the  way  of  earnest  appeal,  was  brought  into 
close  contact  with  the  heart  and  conscience  of  each  individual. 

'  See  Tertullian,    "  De  Prsescrip."  c.  41. 

2  See  Guerike's  "  Manual  of  the  Antiquities  of  the  Church,"  by  Morrison, 
p.  214. 

3  Guerike's  "  Manual,"  p.  213. 

*  There  is  reference  to  this  in  the  "  Apostolic  Constitutions,"  lib.  ii.,  c.  57 
Cotelerius,  i.  266. 


4^8  MINISTERIAL   COSTUME. 

So  long  as  pristine  piety  flourished,  the  people  listened  with 
devout  attention  to  the  observations  of  the  preacher;  but,  as  a 
more  secular  spirit  prevailed,  he  began  to  be  treated  rather  as 
an  orator,  than  a  herald  from  the  King  of  kings.  Before  the 
end  of  the  third  century,  the  house  of  prayer  occasionally  re- 
sounded with  the  plaudits  of  the  theatre.  Such  exhibitions 
were,  indeed,  condemned  at  the  time  by  the  ecclesiastical  au- 
thorities, but  the  very  fact  that  in  the  principal  church  of  one 
of  the  chief  cities  of  the  Empire,  the  bishop,  as  he  proceeded 
with  his  sermon,  was  greeted  with  stamping  of  feet,  clapping 
of  hands,  and  waving  of  handkerchiefs,'  supplied  melancholy 
evidence  of  the  progress  of  spiritual  degeneracy.  In  the  days 
of  the  Apostle  Paul  such  demonstrations  would  have  been 
universally  denounced  as  unseemly  and  unseasonable. 

During  the  first  three  centuries  there  was  nothing  in  the 
ordinary  costume  of  a  Christian  minister  to  distinguish  him 
from  any  of  his  fellow-citizens  ; '  but  when  the  pastor  offici- 
ated in  the  congregation,  he  began,  at  an  early  date,  to  wear 
some  peculiar  piece  of  apparel.  In  an  old  document,  purport- 
ing to  have  been  written  shortly  after  the  middle  of  the  second 
century,  he  is  described,  at  the  period  of  his  advancement  to 
the  episcopal  chair,  as  "  clothed  with  the  dress  of  the  bish- 
ops."'  As  the  third  century  advanced,  there  was  a  growing 
disposition  to  increase  the  pomp  of  public  worship  ;  in  some 
places  vessels  of  silver  or  of  gold  were  used  at  the  dispensation 
of  the  Lord's  Supper ; '  and,  about  this  time,  some  few  decora- 
tions were  assumed  by  those  who  took  part  in  its  administra- 
tion.' But  still  the  habit  used  by  ecclesiastics  at  divine  service 
was  distinguished  by  its  comparative  simplicity,  and  differed 
very  little  from  the  dress  commonly  worn  by  the  mass  of  the 
population. 

What  a  change  passed  over  the  Church  from  the  period  be- 
fore us  to  the  dawn  of  the  Reformation  !     Now,  the  making 

*  Euseb.  vii.  30.  "  See  Bingham,  ii  212. 

*  Letter  from  Pius  of  Rome  to  Justus  of  Vienne. 

*  Bingham,  ii.  451. 

'  They  were  certainly  known  soon  afterward.  See  the  introduction  to 
the  "  Address  to  Paulinas  of  Tyre,"  Euseb.  .\.  4. 


THE   CHURCH   MAY   MOVE   BACKWARDS.  429 

of  images  was  forbidden,  and  no  picture  was  permitted  even 
on  the  walls  of  the  sacred  edifice  :  '  then  a  church  frequently- 
suggested  the  idea  of  a  studio,  or  a  picture  gallery.  Now, 
the  whole  congregation  joined  heartily  in  the  psalmody :  then, 
the  mute  crowd  listened  to  the  music  of  the  organ  accompa- 
nied by  the  shrill  voices  of  a  chorus  of  thoughtless  boys.  Now, 
prayers,  in  the  vernacular  tongue  and  suited  to  the  occasion, 
were  offered  with  simplicity  and  earnestness :  then,  petitions, 
long  since  antiquated,  were  muttered  in  a  dead  language. 
Now,  the  Word  was  read  and  expounded  in  a  way  intelligible 
to  all :  then,  a  few  Latin  extracts  from  it  were  mumbled  over 
hastily ;  and,  if  a  sermon  followed,  it  was,  perhaps,  a  eulogy 
on  some  wretched  fanatic,  or  an  attack  on  some  true  evan- 
gelist. There  are  writers  who  believe  that  the  Church  was 
meanwhile  going  on  in  a  career  of  hopeful  development ;  but 
facts  too  clearly  testify  that  she  was  moving  backwards  in  a 
path  of  cheerless  declension.  Now,  the  Church  "  holding 
forth  the  Word  of  life  "  was  commending  herself  to  philoso- 
phers and  statesmen :  then,  she  had  sunk  into  premature 
dotage,  and  her  very  highest  functionaries  were  lisping  thf^ 
language  of  infidelity. 

'  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  i,,  chap  iii.,  p.  289. 


CHAPTER  II. 

BAPTISM. 

When  the  venerable  Polycarp  was  on  the  eve  of  martyr- 
dom, he  is  reported  to  have  said  that  he  had  served  Christ 
"  eighty  and  six  years."  '  By  the  ancient  Church  these  words 
were  regarded  as  tantamount  to  a  declaration  of  the  length  of 
his  life,  and  as  implying  that  he  had  been  a  disciple  of  the 
Saviour  from  his  infancy.*  The  account  of  his  martyrdom 
indicates  that  he  was  still  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  green  old  age,' 
and  as  very  few  overpass  the  term  of  fourscore  years  and  six, 
we  are  certainly  not  at  liberty  to  infer,  without  any  evidence, 
and  in  the  face  of  probabilities,  that  he  had  now  attained  a 
greater  longevity.  A  contemporary  father,  who  wrote  about 
the  middle  of  the  second  century,  informs  us  that  there  were 
then  many  persons  of  both  sexes,  some  sixty,  and  some  sev- 
enty years  of  age,  who  had  been  "  disciples  of  Christ  from 
childhood,"*  and  the  pastor  of  Smyrna  is  apparently  included 
in  the  description.     If  eighty-six  at  the  time  of  his  death,  he 

'  See  the  "  Epistle  of  the  Church  of  Smyrna,"  giving  an  account  of  his 
martyrdom,  §  9. 

'  The  Latin  version  of  his  words,  as  given  by  Jacobson,  is,  "  Octogesimum 
jam  et  sextum  annum  CEtaiis  ingredior." — Pat.  Apost.,  ii.  565.  See  also  the 
"  Chronicum  Alexandrinum  "  as  quoted  by  Cotelerius,  ii.  194;  and  Gregory 
of  Tours,  "  Hist."  i.  28. 

'  He  is  represented  as  standings  when  offering  up  a  prayer  of  two  hours' 
length  (§  7),  and  as  running  with  great  speed  (§  8).  Such  strength  at  such 
an  age  was  extraordinary.  The  Apostle  John  is  said  to  have  lived  to  the 
age  of  one  hundred  ;  but,  toward  the  close  of  his  life,  he  had  lost  his  wonted 
energy. 

*  "  Apol."  ii.  Opera,  p.  62.     See  Dr.  Wilson's  observations  on  this  passage 
in  his  "  Infant  Baptism,"  pp.  447,  448. 
(430) 


INFANT   BAPTISM.  43 1 

may  have  been  about  threescore  and  ten  when  Justin  Martyr 
made  this  announcement. 

No  one  was  considered  a  disciple  of  Jesus  who  had  not  re- 
ceived baptism,  and  it  thus  appears  that  there  were  many  aged 
persons,  living  about  A.D.  150,  to  whom,  when  children,  the 
ordinance  had  been  administered.  We  may  infer,  also,  that 
Polycarp,  when  an  infant,  had  been  in  this  way  admitted  with- 
in the  pale  of  visible  Christianity.  Infant  baptism  was,  there- 
fore, an  institution  of  the  age  of  the  apostles.  This  conclusion 
is  corroborated  by  the  fact  that  Justin  Martyr  speaks  of  bap- 
tism as  supplying  the  place  of  circumcision.  "  We,"  says  he, 
"  who  through  Christ  have  access  to  God,  have  not  received 
that  circumcision  which  is  in  the  flesh,  but  that  spiritual  cir- 
cumcision which  Enoch,  and  others  like  him,  observed.  And 
this,  because  we  have  been  sinners,  we  do,  through  the  mercy 
of  God,  receive  djy  baptisiny  '  Justin  would  scarcely  have  rep- 
resented the  initiatory  ordinance  of  the  Christian  Church  as 
supplying  so  efficiently  the  place  of  the  Jewish  rite,  had  it  not 
been  of  equally  extensive  application.  The  testimony  of 
Irenaeus,  the  disciple  of  Polycarp,  throws  additional  light  upon 
this  argument.  "  Christ,"  says  he,  "  came  to  save  all  persons 
by  Himself;  all,  I  say,  who  by  Him  are  regenerated  unto  God 
— infants,  and  little  ones,  and  children,  and  youths,  and  aged 
persons  ;  therefore  He  went  through  the  several  ages,  being 
made  an  infant  for  infants,  that  He  might  sanctify  infants  ;^ 
and,  for  little  ones.  He  was  made  a  little  one,  to  sanctify  them 
of  that  age  also."  ^  Irenaeus  elsewhere  speaks  of  baptism  as 
our  regeneration  or  new  birth  unto  God,^  so  that  his  meaning 
in  this  passage  can  not  well  be  disputed.     He  was  born   on 

•  Dialogue  with  Tr)-pho.     Opera,  p.  261. 

"^  There  may  here  be  a  reference  to  i  Cor.  vii.  14. 
^  Book  ii.,  c.  xxii.,  §  4. 

*  Thus  he  says  :  "  Giving  to  His  disciples  the  power  oi regeneration  tmto 
God,  He  said  to  them,  Go  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." — Book  iii.,  c.  xvii.,  §  i. 
Thus,  too,  he  speaks  of  the  heretics  using  certain  rites  "  to  the  rejection  of 
baptis7n,  which  is  regetteration  unto  God." — Book  i.,  c.  xxi.,  §  i.  Irenfeus 
here  means  that  baptism  is  typically  regeneration,  in  the  same  way  as  the 
bread  and  wine  in  the  Eucharist  are  typically  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 


432  INFANT   BAPTISM. 

the  confines  of  the  apostolic  age,  and  when  he  mentions  the 
regeneration  unto  God  of  "  infants,  and  little  ones,  and  chil- 
dren," he  alludes  to  their  admission  by  baptism  to  the  seal  of 
salvation. 

The  celebrated  Origen  was  born  in  A.D.  185,  and  we  have 
as  strong  circumstantial  evidence  as  we  could  well  desire  that 
he  was  baptized  in  infancy.'  Both  his  parents  were  Christians, 
and  as  soon  as  he  was  capable  of  receiving  instruction,  he  be- 
gan to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  pious  education.  He  affirms, 
not  only  that  the  practice  of  infant  baptism  prevailed  in  his 
own  age,  but  that  it  had  been  handed  down  as  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal ordinance  from  the  first  century.  "  None,"  says  he,  "  are 
free  from  pollution,  though  his  life  upon  the  earth  be  but  the 
length  of  one  day,  and  for  this  reason  even  infants  are  bap- 
tized, because  by  the  sacrament  of  baptism  the  pollution  of 
our  birth  is  put  away."'  "  The  Church  has  received  the  cus- 
tom of  baptizing  little  children  from  the  apostles^  ' 

The  only  writer  of  the  first  three  centuries  who  questions 
the  propriety  of  infant  baptism  is  Tertullian.  The  passage  in 
which  he  expounds  his  views  on  this  subject  is  a  most  trans- 
parent specimen  of  special  pleading,  and  the  extravagant  rec- 
ommendations it  contains  sufficiently  attest  that  he  had  taken 
up  a  false  position.  "  Considering,"  says  he,  "  every  one's 
condition  and  disposition,  and  also  his  age,  the  delay  of  bap- 
tism is  more  advantageous,  but  especially  in  the  case  of  little 
children.  For  what  necessity  is  there  that  the  sponsors  be 
brought  into  danger  ?     Because  they  may  fail  to  fulfil  their 

'  That  infant  baptism  was  now  practiced  at  Alexandria  is  apparent  also 
from  the  testimony  of  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  who,  in  allusion  to  this  rite, 
speaks  of  "the  children  that  are  drawn  up  out  of  the  water." — Pcedag,  iii. 
c.  II. 

*  Hom.  xiv.  in  "Lucam."  Opera,  iii.  948.  See  also  Opera,  ii.  230.  Horn, 
viii.  in  "  Leviticum." 

*  Comment,  in  "  Epist.  ad  Roman."  lib.  v..  Opera,  iv.  565.  According  to 
Eusebius  (vi.  19),  the  Christian  doctrine  was  conveyed  to  Origen  "  from  his 
forefathers  " — f«  irpny6vuv — or,  as  Rufinus  translates  it,  afi  aTi's  atqueataj'is, 
"  from  his  grandfathers  and  great-grandfathers,"  so  that  the  tradition  may 
have  been  handed  down  in  his  own  family  from  the  apostolic  age.  See 
"  Wall's  History  of  Infant  Baptism,"  i.  124.     Oxford,  1836. 


TERTULLIAN  S   TESTIMONY.  433 

promises  by  death,  or  may  be  deceived  by  the  child's  proving 
of  a  wicked  disposition.  Our  Lord  says  indeed,  '  Do  not  for- 
bid them  to  come  unto  me.'  Let  them  come,  therefore,  whilst 
they  are  growing  up,  let  them  come  whilst  they  are  learning, 
whilst  they  are  being  taught  where  it  is  they  are  coming,  let 
them  be  made  Christians  when  they  are  capable  of  knowing 
Christ.  Why  should  their  innocent  age  make  haste  to  the  re- 
mission of  sins?  Men  proceed  more  cautiously  in  worldly 
things  ;  and  he  that  is  not  trusted  with  earthly  goods,  why 
should  he  be  trusted  with  divine  ?  Let  them  know  how  to 
ask  salvation,  that  you  may  appear  to  give  it  to  one  that  ask- 
eth.  For  no  less  reason  unmarried  persons  ought  to  be  de- 
layed, because  they  are  exposed  to  temptations,  as  well  vir- 
gins that  are  come  to  maturity,  as  those  that  are  in  widow- 
hood and  have  little  occupation,  until  they  either  marry  or  be 
confirmed  in  continence.  They  who  know  the  weight  of  bap- 
tism will  rather  dread  its  attainment  than  its  postponement."  ' 
In  the  apostolic  age  all  adults,  when  admitted  to  baptism, 
answered  for  themselves.  Had  additional  sponsors  been  re- 
quired for  the  three  thousand  converts  who  joined  the  Church 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost,^  they  could  not  have  been  procured. 
The  Ethiopian  eunuch  and  the  Philippian  jailer '  were  their 
own  sponsors.  Until  long  after  the  time  when  Tertullian 
wrote,  there  were,  in  the  case  of  adults,  no  other  sponsors 
than  the  parties  themselves.  But  when  an  infant  was  dedi- 
cated to  God  in  baptism,  the  parents  were  required  to  make  a 
profession  of  the  faith,  and  to  undertake  to  train  up  their  little 
one  in  the  way  of  righteousness."     It  is  to  this  arrangement 

'  "  De  Baptismo,"  c.  18.  ^  Acts  ii.  41. 

'  Acts  viii.  37,  38;  xvi.  31-33. 

*■  Parents  wtXQCO'mx^orAy  sponsors  for  their  own  children,  ....  and  the 
extraordinary  cases  in  which  they  were  presented  by  others,  were  commonly 
such  cases,  where  the  parent  could  not,  or  would  not,  do  that  kind  office  for 
them  ;  as  when  slaves  were  presented  to  baptism  by  their  masters,  or  chil- 
dren whose  parents  were  dead,  were  brought,  by  the  charity  of  any  who 
would  show  mercy  on  them  ;  or  children  exposed  by  their  parents,  which 
were  sometimes  taken  up  by  the  holy  virgins  of  the  Church,  and  by  them 
presented  unto  baptism.  These  are  the  only  cases  mentioned  by  St.  Austin 
in  which  children  seem  to  have  had  other  sponsors." — Bingham,  iii.  552. 
28 


434  TERTULLIAN  S   TESTIMONY. 

that  Tertullian  refers  when  he  says,  "  What  necessity  is  there 
that  the  sponsors  be  brought  into  danger  ?  Because  even  they 
may  fail  to  fulfil  their  promises  by  death,  or  may  be  deceived 
by  the  child's  proving  of  a  wicked  disposition." 

It  is  plain,  from  his  own  statements,  that  infant  baptism 
was  practiced  in  the  days  of  this  father ;  and  also,  that  it  was 
then  said  to  rest  on  the  authority  of  the  New  Testament.  Its 
advocates,  he  alleges,  quoted  in  its  defence  the  words  of  our 
Saviour,  "  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and  for- 
bid them  not."  '  And  how  does  Tertullian  meet  this  argu- 
ment ?  Does  he  venture  to  say  that  it  is  contradicted  by  any 
other  Scripture  testimony  ?  Does  he  pretend  to  assert  that 
the  appearance  of  parents  as  sponsors  for  their  children,  is  an 
ecclesiastical  innovation  ?  Had  this  acute  and  learned  con- 
troversialist been  prepared  to  encounter  infant  baptism  on 
such  grounds,  he  would  not  have  neglected  his  opportunity. 
But,  instead  of  pursuing  such  a  line  of  reasoning,  he  merely 
exhibits  his  weakness  by  resorting  to  a  piece  of  miserable 
sophistry.  When  our  Lord  said,  "Suffer  the  little  children 
to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not,"  He  illustrated  His 
meaning  as  He  "  took  them  up  in  His  arms,  put  His  hands 
upon  them  and  blessed  them  ";^  so  that  the  gloss  of  Tertullian, 
"  Let  them  come  whilst  they  are  growing  up,  let  them  come 
whilst  they  are  learning,"  is  a  palpable  misinterpretation.  Nor 
is  this  all.  The  Carthaginian  father  was  aware  that  there 
were  frequent  instances  in  the  days  of  the  apostles  of  the  bap- 
tism of  whole  households  ;  and  yet  he  maintains  that  the  un- 
married, especially  young  widows,  can  not  with  safety  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  ordinance.  Had  he  been  with  Paul  and  Silas 
at  Philippi  he  could  thus  scarcely  have  consented  to  the  bap- 
tism of  Lydia  ;  and  he  must  certainly  have  protested  against 
the  administration  of  the  rite  to  all  the  members  of  her 
family." 

Though  Tertullian  may  not  have  formally  separated  from  the 
Church  when  he  wrote  the  tract  in  which  this  passage  occurs, 

'  Mark  x.  14.  '  Compare  Mark  x.  13-16  with  Luke  xviii.  15,  16. 

*  See  Acts  xvi.  15. 


FOLLY    OF   TERTULLIAN.  435 

he  had  already  adopted  the  principles  of  the  Montanists. 
These  errorists  held  that  any  one  who  had  fallen  into  heinous 
sin  after  baptism  should  never  again  be  admitted  to  ecclesias- 
tical fellowship  ;  and  this  little  book  itself  supplies  proof  that 
its  author  supported  the  same  doctrine.  He  here  declares 
that  the  man  "  who  renews  his  sins  after  baptism  "  is  "  destin- 
ed to  fire  ";  and  he  intimates  that  martyrdom,  or  "  the  baptism 
of  blood,"  can  alone  "  restore  "  such  an  offender.'  It  was 
obviously  the  policy  of  the  Montanists  to  discourage  infant 
baptism,  and  to  retain  the  mass  of  their  adherents,  as  long  as 
possible,  in  the  condition  of  catechumens.  Hence  Tertullian 
here  asserts  that  "  they  who  know  the  weight  of  baptism  will 
rather  dread  its  attaimncnt  than  its  postponement."  '^  But 
neither  the  apostles,  nor  the  early  Church,  had  any  sympathy 
with  such  a  sentiment.  They  represent  baptism  as  a  privilege 
— as  a  sign  and  seal  of  God's  favor — which  all  should  thank- 
fully embrace.  On  the  very  day  on  which  Peter  denounced 
the  Jews  as  having  with  wicked  hands  crucified  his  Master,  he 
assisted  in  the  baptism  of  three  thousand  of  these  transgressors. 
"  Repent,"  says  he,  "  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  the  promise  is  unto  you  atid  to 
your  children^  ^  Tertullian  would  have  given  them  no  such 
encouragement.  But  the  Montanists  believed  that  their 
Phrygian  Paraclete  was  commissioned  to  supersede  the  apos- 
tolic discipline.  When  the  African  father  attacked  infant 
baptism  he  acted  under  this  conviction  ;  and  whilst  seeking  to 
set  aside  the  arrangements  of  the  Church   of  his  own  age,  he 

'  "  De  Baptismo,"  c.  viii.  xvi. 

"^  It  would  be  thought  by  many  a  cruelty  to  place  a  person  without  his 
own  consent,  and  in  unconscious  infancy,  in  a  situation,  so  far,  much  more 
disadvantageous  than  that  of  those  brought  up  pagans,  that  if  he  did  ever — 
suppose  at  the  age  of  fifteen  or  twenty — fall  into  any  sin,  he  must  remain 
for  the  rest  of  his  life — perhaps  for  above  half  a  century — deprived  of  all 
hope,  or  at  least  of  all  confident  hope,  of  restoration  to  the  divine  favor  ;  shut 
out  from  all  that  cheering  prospect  which,  if  his  baptism  in  'wii's.wc^  had  been 
omitted,  m\ght  have  lain  before  him."  —  Archbishop  Whatelys  Scripturt 
Doctrine  concerning  the  Sacraments,  p.  li,  note. 

'  Acts  ii.  38,  39. 


436  TESTIMONY   OF   AN   AFRICAN   SYNOD. 

felt  no  scruple  in  venturing  at  the  same  time  to  subvert  an 
institute  of  primitive  Christianity. 

We  have  the  clearest  evidence  that,  little  more  than  twenty- 
years  after  the  death  of  Tertullian,  the  whole  Church  of  Africa 
recognized  the  propriety  of  this  practice.  About  the  middle 
of  the  third  century  a  bishop  of  that  country,  named  Fidus, 
had  taken  up  the  idea,  that,  when  administering  the  ordinance, 
he  was  bound  to  adhere  to  the  very  letter  of  the  law  relative  to 
circumcision,'  and  that  therefore  he  was  not  at  liberty  to  bap- 
tize the  child  before  the  eighth  day  after  its  birth.  When  the 
case  was  submitted  to  Cyprian  and  an  African  synod,  consist- 
ing of  sixty-six  bishops,  they  una7iimo2isly  decided  that  these 
scruples  were  groundless  ;  and,  in  an  epistle  addressed  to  the 
pastor  who  entertained  them,  the  Assembly  thus  communicated 
the  result  of  its  deliberations:  "  As  regards  the  case  of  infants 
who,  you  say,  should  not  be  baptized  within  the  second  or 
third  day  after  their  birth,  and  that  respect  should  be  had  to 
the  law  of  the  ancient  circumcision,  whence  you  think  that  one 
newly  born  should  not  be  baptized  and  sanctified  within  the 
eighth  day,  we  all  in  our  council  thought  very  differently.  .  .  . 
If  even  to  the  most  grievous  offenders,  ....  when  they  after- 
ward believe,  remission  of  sins  is  granted,  and  no  one  is  de- 
barred from  baptism  and  grace,  how  much  more  ought  not  an 
infant  to  be  debarred  who,  being  newly  born,  has  in  no  way 
sinned,  except  that  being  born  after  Adam  in  the  flesh,  he  has 
by  his  first  birth  contracted  the  contagion  of  the  old  death; 
who  is  on  this  very  account  more  easily  admitted  to  receive 
remission  of  sins,  in  that,  not  his  own,  but  another's  sins  are 
remitted  to  him.'"' 

Whilst  it  is  apparent  that  the  baptism  of  infants  was  the 
established  order  of  the  Church,  it  is  equally  clear  that  the 
particular  mode  of  administration  was  not  considered  essential 
to  the  validity  of  the  ordinance.  It  was  usually  dispensed  by 
immersion  or  affusion,'  but  when  the  health  of  the  candidate 

'  Gen.  xvii.  12;  Lev.  xii.  3.  '  Epist.  lix.,  pp.  211,  212. 

'  Laiircntius,  a  Roman  deacon,  who  flourished  about  the  middle  of  the 
third  century,  is  represented  as  baptizing  one  Romanus,  a  soldier,  in  a  pitch- 
er of  water,  and  another  individual,  named  Lucillus,  by  pouring  water  upon 
his  head.     See  Bingham,  iii.  599. 


FALSE   VIEWS   AND   FOOLISH   APPENDAGES.  43/ 

might  have  been  injured  by  such  an  ordeal,  sprinkling  was 
deemed  sufficient.  Aspersion  was  commonly  employed  in  the 
case  of  the  sick,  and  was  known  by  the  designation  of  clinic  or 
bed  baptism.  Cyprian  points  out  to  one  of  his  correspondents 
the  absurdity  of  the  idea  that  the  extent  to  which  the  water 
is  applied  can  affect  the  character  of  the  institution.  "  In  the 
saving  sacrament,"  says  he,  "  the  contagion  of  sin  is  not  washed 
away  just  in  the  same  way  as  is  the  filth  of  the  skin  and  body 
in  the  ordinary  ablution  of  the  flesh,  so  that  there  should  be 
need  of  saltpetre  and  other  appliances,  and  a  bath  and  a  pool  in 

which  the  poor  body  may  be  washed  and  cleansed It 

is  apparent  that  the  sprinkling  of  water  has  like  force  with  the 
saving  washing,  and  that  when  this  is  done  in  the  Church, 
where  the  faith  both  of  the  giver  and  receiver  is  entire,'  all 
holds  good  and  is  consummated  and  perfected  by  the  power 
of  the  Lord,  and  the  truth  of  faith."  * 

Cyprian  is  here  perfectly  right  in  maintaining  that  the  es- 
sence of  baptism  does  not  consist  in  the  way  in  which  the  water 
is  administered ;  but  much  of  the  language  he  employs  in 
speaking  of  this  ordinance  can  not  be  commended  as  sober  and 
scriptural.  He  often  confounds  it  with  regeneration,  and  ex- 
presses himself  as  if  the  mere  rite  possessed  a  mystic  virtue. 
"  The  birth  of  Christians,"  says  he,  "  is  in  baptism."  '  "  The 
Church  alone  has  the  life-giving  wdXer'' *  "  The  water  must 
first  be  cleansed  and  sanctified  by  the  priest,  that  it  may  be 
able,  by  baptism  therein,  to  wash  away  the  sins  of  the  bap- 
tized." '  Tertullian  and  other  writers  of  the  third  century, 
make  use  of  phraseology  equally  unguarded.*  When  the  true 
character  of  the  institute  was  so  far  misunderstood,  it  is  not 
extraordinary  that  it  began  to  be  tricked  out  in  the  trappings 
of  superstition.     The  candidate,  as  early  as  the  third  century, 

1  Here  the  validity  of  the  ordinance  is  made  to  depend  on  the  personal 
character  of  the  administrator. 

^  Epist.  Ixxvi.,  p.  321.  '  Epist.  ixxiv.,  p.  295. 

*  Epist.  Ixxvi.,  p.  317.  In  hke  manner  Clement  of  Alexandria  says,  "  Our 
transgressions  are  remitted  by  one  sovereign  medicine,  the  baptism  accord- 
ing to  the  Word."     See  Kaye's  "  Clement,"  p.  437. 

^  Epist.  Ixx.,  p.  269.  "  Tertullian,  "  De  Baptismo,"  c.  i 


438  THE   BAPTISMAL   SERVICE. 

was  exorcised  before  baptism,  with  a  view  to  the  expulsion  of 
evil  spirits ; "  and,  in  some  places,  after  the  application  of  the 
water,  when  the  kiss  of  peace  was  given  to  him,  a  mixture  of 
milk  and  honey  was  administered.'  He  was  then  anointed 
and  marked  on  the  forehead  with  the  sign  of  the  cross.' 
Finally,  the  presiding  minister,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  be- 
stowed the  benediction,^  Tertullian  endeavors  to  explain 
some  of  these  ceremonies.  "  The  flesh,"  says  he,  "  is  washed, 
that  the  soul  may  be  freed  from  spots ;  the  flesh  is  anointed, 
that  the  soul  may  be  consecrated ;  the  flesh  is  marked  (with 
the  sign  of  the  cross),  that  the  soul  may  be  guarded  ;  the  flesh 
is  overshadowed  by  the  imposition  of  hands,  that  the  soul  may 
be  enlightened  by  the  Spirit."  ^ 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  baptismal  service  constituted 
the  first  germ  of  a  Church  liturgy.  As  the  ordinance  was  so 
frequently  celebrated,  it  was  found  convenient  to  adhere  to 
the  same  form,  not  only  in  the  words  of  administration,"  but 
also  in  the  accompanying  prayers  ;  and  thus  each  pastor  soon 
had  his  own  baptismal  office.  But  when  heresies  spread,  and 
when,  in  consequence,  measures  were  taken  to  preserve  the 
unity  of  the  Catholic  faith,  a  uniform  series  of  questions — ■ 
prepared,  perhaps,  by  councils  and  adopted  by  the  several 
ministers — was  addressed  to  all  catechumens.  Thus  the  bap- 
tismal services  were  gradually  assimilated  ;  and,  as  the  power 
of  the  hierarchy  increased,  one  general  office,  in  each  district, 
superseded  all  the  previously-existing  formularies. 

Baptism,  as  dispensed  in  apostolic  simplicity,  is  a  most  sig- 
nificant ordinance  ;  but  the  original  rite  was  soon  well-nigh 

'  Cyprian,  "  Con.  Carthag."  pp.  600,  602. 

*  See  Kaye's  "  Clement  of  Alexandria,"  p.  441,  and  Tertullian,  "  De  Co- 
rona," c.  3. 

'  Tertullian,  "  De  Baptismo,"  c.  7. 

*  Tertullian,  "  De  Baptismo,"  c.  8.  The  rite  of  confirmation  thus  origi- 
nated. The  Greek  Church  still  follows  the  ancient  usage,  and  dispenses  it  to 
infants  shortly  after  baptism.  See  Waddington's  *'  Present  Condition  of  the 
Greek  Church,"  p.  43.     London,  1829. 

*  "  De  Resurrectione  Carnis,"  c.  8. 

*  "  In  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."— 
Matt,  xxviii.  19. 


THE   ORDINANCE   DISFIGURED.  439 

hidden  behind  the  rubbish  of  human  inventions.  The  milk 
and  honey,  the  unction,  the  crossing,  the  kiss  of  peace,  and 
the  imposition  of  hands,  were  all  designed  to  render  it  more 
imposing ;  and,  still  farther  to  deepen  the  impression,  it  was 
already  administered  in  the  presence  of  none  save  those  who 
had  themselves  been  thus  initiated.'  But  the  foolishness  of 
God  is  wiser  than  man.  Nothing  is  more  to  be  deprecated 
than  any  attempt  to  improve  upon  the  institutions  of  Christ. 
Baptism,  as  established  by  the  Divine  Founder  of  our  religion, 
is  a  visible  exhibition  of  the  Gospel ;  but,  as  known  in  the 
third  century,  it  had  much  of  the  character  of  one  of  the 
heathen  mysteries.  It  was  intended  to  confirm  faith  ;  but  it 
was  now  contributing  to  foster  superstition.  How  soon  had 
the  gold  become  dim,  and  the  most  fine  gold  been  changed ! 

■  Bingham,  iii.  377. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   lord's   suffer. 

Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  may  be  regarded  as  a  typi- 
cal or  pictorial  summary  of  the  great  salvation.  In  Baptism 
the  Gospel  is  exhibited  subjectively — renewing  the  heart  and 
cleansing  from  all  iniquity  :  in  the  Lord's  Supper  it  is  exhibit- 
ed objectively — providing  a  mighty  Mediator,  and  a  perfect 
atonement.  Regeneration  and  Propitiation  are  central  truths 
toward  which  all  the  other  doctrines  of  Christianity  converge ; 
and  in  marking  them  out  by  corresponding  symbols,  the  Head 
of  the  Church  has  been  graciously  pleased  to  signalize  their 
importance. 

The  Scriptures  are  able  to  make  us  wise  unto  salvation  and 
thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works ;  but  we  are  not  at 
liberty  to  adulterate  these  records  either  by  addition  or  sub- 
traction. If  they  should  be  preserved  exactly  as  they  issued 
from  the  pen  of  inspiration,  it  is  clear  that  the  visible  ordi- 
nances in  which  they  are  epitomized  should  also  be  maintained 
in  their  integrity.  He  who  tampers  with  a  divinely-instituted 
symbol  is  obviously  to  some  extent  obnoxious  to  the  maledic- 
tion '  pronounced  upon  the  man  who  adds  to,  or  takes  away 
from,  the  words  of  the  book  of  God's  prophecy. 

Had  the  original  form  of  administering  the  Lord's  Supper 
been  rigidly  maintained,  the  Church  would  have  avoided  a  mul- 
titude of  errors  ;  but  very  soon  the  spirit  of  innovation  began  to 
disfigure  this  institute.  The  mode  in  which  it  was  observed,  and 
the  views  which  were  entertained  respecting  it  by  the  Chris- 
tians of  Rome,  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  are 
minutely  described   by  Justin    Martyr.     "There  is  brought," 

'  Rev.  xxii.  i8,  19. 
(440) 


THE   LORD  S   SUPPER.  44I 

says  he,  "  to  that  one  of  the  brethren  who  is  president,  bread 
and  a  cup  of  wine  mixed  with  water.  And  he,  having  received 

them,  gives  praise  and  glory  to  the  Father  of  all  things 

And  when  he  has  finished  his  praises  and  thanksgiving,  all 
the  people  who  are  present  express  their  assent  saying  Amen, 
which  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  signifies  so  be  it.  The  president 
having  given  thanks,  and  the  people  having  expressed  their 
assent,  those  whom  we  call  deacons  give  to  each  of  those  who 
are  present  a  portion  of  the  bread  which  has  been  blessed,  and 
of  the  wine  mixed  with  water ;  and  carry  away  some  for  those 
who  are  absent.  And  this  food  is  called  by  us  the  Eucharist, 
of  which  no  one  may  partake  unless  he  believes  that  which 
we  teach  is  true,  and  is  baptized,  ....  and  lives  in  such  a 
manner  as  Christ  commanded.  For  we  receive  not  these  ele- 
ments as  common  bread  or  common  drink.  But  even  as  Jesus 
Christ  our  Saviour  ....  had  both  flesh  and  blood  for  our 
salvation,  even  so  we  are  taught  that  the  food  which  is  blessed 
....  by  the  digestion  of  which  our  blood  and  flesh  are 
nourished,  is  the  flesh  and  blood  of  that  Jesus  who  was  made 
flesh.  For  the  apostles  in  the  memoirs  composed  by  them, 
which  are  called  Gospels,  have  related  that  Jesus  thus  com- 
manded them,  that  having  taken  bread  and  given  thanks  He 
said,  '  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me,  this  is  my  body ';  and 
that  in  like  manner,  having  taken  the  cup  and  given  thanks. 
He  said,  '  This  is  my  blood ';  and  that  He  distributed  them 
to  these  alone."  ' 

The  writer  does  not  here  mention  the  posture  of  the  disci- 
ples when  communicating,  but  it  is  highly  probable  that  they 
still  continued  to  sit^  in  accordance  with  the  primitive  pat- 
tern. As  they  received  the  ordinance  in  the  same  attitude  as 
that  in  which  they  partook  of  their  common  meals,  the  story 

'  "  Apol."  ii.,  Opera,  pp.  97,  98. 

"  In  an  article  on  the  Roman  Cataconnbs,  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  for 
January,  1859,  the  writer  observes  :  "It  is  apparent  from  all  the  paintings 
of  Christian  feasts,  whether  of  the  Agapae,  or  the  burial  feasts  of  the  dead, 
or  the  Communion  of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  that  they  were  celebrated  by  the 
early  Christians  sitting  round  a  table."  See  also  Northcote's  "  Roman 
Catacombs,"  p.  63. 


442  THE   ELEMENTS. 

that  their  religious  assemblies  were  the  scenes  of  unnatural 
feasting,  may  have  thus  originated/  For  the  first  three  cent- 
uries, kneeling 21  the  Lord's  Supper  was  unknown;  and  it  is 
not  till  about  a  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  the  Apostle 
John,  that  we  read  of  the  communicants  staneiing?  Through- 
out the  whole  of  the  third  century,  this  was  the  position  in 
which  they  partook  of  the  elements." 

The  bread  and  wine  of  the  Eucharist  were  supplied  by  the 
worshippers,  who  made  "  oblations  "  according  to  their  ability,* 
as  well  for  the  support  of  the  ministers  of  the  Church,  as  for 
the  celebration  of  its  ordinances.  There  is  no  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  bread,  used  at  this  period  in  the  holy  Supper, 
was  unfermented ;  for,  though  our  Lord  distributed  a  loaf,  or 
cake,  of  that  quality  when  the  rite  was  instituted,  the  early 
Christians  considered  the  circumstance  accidental ;  as  un- 
leavened bread  was  in  ordinary  use  among  the  Jews  at  the 
time  of  the  Passover.  The  disciples  had  less  reason  for  mix- 
ing the  wine  with  water,  and  they  could  have  produced  no 
good  evidence  that  such  was  the  beverage  used  by  Christ  when 
He  appointed  this  commemoration.  In  the  third  century 
superstition  already  recognized  a  mystery  in  the  mixture. 
"  We  see,"  says  Cyprian,  "  that  in  the  water  the  people  are 
represented,  but  that  in  the  wine  is  exhibited  the  blood  of 
Christ.  When,  however,  in  the  cup  water  is  mingled  with 
wine,  the  people  are  united  to  Christ,  and  the  multitude  of 
the  faithful  are  coupled  and  conjoined  to  Him  on  whom  they 
believe."  ^  The  bread  was  not  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  com- 
municant by  the  administrator,  but  was  handed  to  him  by  a 
deacon  ;  and  the  better  to  show  forth  the  unity  of  the  Church, 

'  This  calumny  created  much  prejudice  against  them  in  the  second  cent- 
ury. See  Justin  Martyr's  "  Dialogue  with  Trypho,"  §  lo  ;  and  the  "  Apol- 
ogy of  Athenagoras,"  §  3.  If  Pliny  refers  to  the  Eucharist  when  he  speaks 
of  the  early  Christians  as  partaking  of  food  together,  it  is  obvious  that  they 
must  then  have  communicated  sitting,  or  in  the  posture  in  which  they  par 
took  of  their  ordinary  meals. 

"  TertuUian,  "  De  Oratione,"  c.  14.  *  See  Euseb.  vii.  9. 

*  Justin  Martyr,  "  Apol."  ii.  98;  and  Tertullian's  "  Apol."  c.  39. 

'  Epist.  Ixiii.  "  To  Ccecilius,"  Opera,  p.  229, 


TRANSUBSTANTIATION   UNKNOWN.  443 

all  partook  of  one  loaf  made  of  a  size  sufficient  to  supply  the 
whole  congregation/  The  wine  was  administered  separately, 
and  was  drunk  out  of  a  cup  or  chalice.  As  early  as  the  third 
century  an  idea  began  to  be  entertained  that  the  Eucharist 
was  necessary  to  salvation,  and  it  was,  in  consequence,  given 
to  infants.^  None  were  now  suffered  to  be  present  at  its  cele- 
bration but  those  who  were  communicants ; '  for  even  the 
catechumens,  or  candidates  for  baptism,  were  obliged  to  with- 
draw before  the  elements  were  consecrated. 

The  Passover  was  kept  only  once  a  year,  but  the  Eucharist, 
which  was  the  corresponding  ordinance  of  the  Christian  dis- 
pensation, was  observed  much  more  frequently.  Justin  inti- 
mates that  it  was  administered  every  Lord's  day,  and  other 
fathers  of  this  period  bear  similar  testimony.  Cyprian  speaks 
even  of  its  daily  celebration."  The  New  Testament  has  pro- 
mulgated no  precise  law  upon  the  subject,  and  only  the  more 
zealous  disciples  communicated  weekly.  On  the  Paschal  week 
it  was  observed  with  peculiar  solemnity,  and  by  the  greatest 
concourse  of  worshippers. 

The  term  sacrame?it  was  applied  to  both  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper ;  but  it  was  not  confined  to  these  two  symbolic 
ordinances."  The  word  transubstantiation  was  not  introduced 
until  upwards  of  a  thousand  years  after  the  death  of  our  Sav- 
iour;* and  the  doctrine  which  it  indicates  was  not  known  to 
any  of  the  fathers  of  the  first  three  centuries.  They  all  con- 
cur in  describing  the  elements,  after  consecration,  as  bread 
and  wine ;  they  all  represent  them  as  passing  through  the 
usual  process  of  digestion  ;  and  they  all  speak  of  them  as  sym- 

*  Larroque's  "History  of  the  Eucharist,"  p.  35.     London,  1684. 

*  Cyprian,  "  De  Lapsis,"  Opera,  pp.  375,  381.  This  was  the  result  ot 
carrying  to  excess  a  protest  against  the  Montanist  opposition  to  infant  bap- 
tism. Such  a  reaction  often  occurs.  It  was  now  maintained  that  the 
Lord's  Supper,  as  well  as  Baptism,  should  be  administered  to  infants. 

'  At  an  earlier  period  it  was  dispensed  in  presence  of  the  catechumens. 
See  Bingham,  iii.  p.  380. 

*■  "  De  Oratione  Dominica,"  Opera,  p.  421. 
'  See  Kaye's  "  Tertullian,"  p.  357. 

*  See  Gieseler's  "  Text-Book  of  Ecclesiastical  History,"  by  Cunningham, 
ii.  331,  note  3. 


444  now   CHRIST   IS   IN   THE   SUPPER. 

bols  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  In  this  strain  Justin 
Martyr  discourses  of  "  that  bread  which  our  Christ  has  com- 
manded us  to  offer  in  remembrance  of  His  being  made  flesh, 
....  and  of  that  cup  which  He  commanded  those  that  cele- 
brate the  Eucharist  to  offer  iti  remembrance  of  Hi";  bloods ' 
According  to  Clement  of  Alexandria  the  Scripture  designates 
wine  "a  mystic  symbol  of  the  holy  blood,""  Origen,  as  if 
anticipating  the  darkness  which  was  to  overspread  the  Church, 
expresses  himself  very  much  in  the  style  of  a  zealous  Protes- 
tant. He  denounces  as  "simpletons'"  those  who  attributed  a 
supernatural  power  to  the  Eucharistic  elements,  and  repeat- 
edly affirms  that  the  words  used  at  the  institution  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  are  to  be  interpreted  spiritually.  "  The  meat," 
says  he,  "  which  is  sanctified  by  the  Word  of  God,  and  prayer, 
as  it  is  material,  goes  into  the  stomach,  ....  but,  by  reason 
of  prayer  made  over  it,  it  is  profitable  according  to  t lie  propor- 
tion of  fait  Ji,  and  is  the  cause  that  the  understanding  is  enlight- 
ened and  attentive  to  what  is  profitable  ;  and  it  is  not  the 
substance  of  bread,  but  the  word  pronounced  upon  it,  which  is 
profitable  to  him  who  eats  it  in  a  way  not  unworthy  of  the 
Lord."*  Cyprian  uses  language  scarcely  less  equivocal,  for 
he  speaks  of  "  that  wine  whereby  the  blood  of  Christ  is  set 
forth," ^  and  asserts  that  it  ''was  wine  which  He  called  His 
blood."" 

Christ  has  said,  "  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together 
in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them  "; '  and,  true  to 
His  promises.  He  is  really  present  with  His  people  in  every 
act  of  devotion.  Even  when  they  draw  near  to  Him  in  secret, 
or  when  they  read  His  Word,  or  when  they  meditate  on  His 
mercy,  as  well  as  when  they  listen  to  His  Gospel  preached  in 
the  great  congregation.  He  manifests  Himself  to  them  not  as 
He  does  unto  the  world.     But  in  the  Eucharist  He  reveals 

'  "  Dialogue  with  Trypho,"  Opera,  pp.  296,  297. 
'  See  Kaye's  "  Clement  of  Alexandria,"  p.  445. 
»  aKFpaioTtixjv,  Opera,  iii.,  p.  498. 

*  In  Mat.  torn.  xi.  Opera,  iii.,  499,  500. 

'  Epist.  Ixiii.  "  To  Caecilius,"  Opera,  p.  225. 

•  Epist.  Ixiii.,  Opera,  228.  ^  Matt,  xviii.  2o. 


TRACES   OF   SUPERSTITION.  445 

His  character  more  significantly  than  in  any  of  His  other  ordi. 
nances;  for  He  here  addresses  Himself  to  all  the  senses,  as 
well  as  to  the  soul.  In  the  words  of  institution,  they  "  hear 
His  voice  ";  when  the  elements  are  presented  to  them,  they 
perceive,  as  it  were,  "  the  smell  of  His  garments";  with  their 
hands  they  "  handle  of  the  Word  of  Life  ";  and  they  "  taste 
and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good."  But  some  of  the  early  Chris- 
tian writers  were  by  no  means  satisfied  with  such  represen- 
tations. They  entertained  an  idea  that  Christ  was  in  the 
Eucharist,  not  only  in  richer  manifestations  of  His  grace,  but 
also  in  a  way  altogether  different  from  that  in  which  He  vouch- 
safes His  presence  in  prayer,  or  praise,  or  any  other  divine 
observance.  They  conceived  that,  as  the  soul  of  man  is  united 
to  his  body,  the  Logos,  or  Divine  nature  of  Christ,  pervades 
the  consecrated  bread  and  wine,  so  that  they  may  be  called 
His  flesh  and  blood  ;  and  they  imagined  that,  in  consequence, 
the  sacred  elements  imparted  to  the  material  frame  of  the  be- 
liever the  germ  of  immortality.'  Irenseus  declares  that  "  our 
bodies,  receiving  the  Eucharist,  are  no  longer  corruptible,  but 
possessed  of  the  hope  of  eternal  life." '  This  misconception 
of  the  ordinance  was  the  fruitful  source  of  superstition.  The 
mere  elements  began  to  be  regarded  with  awful  reverence; 
the  loss  of  a  particle  of  the  bread,  or  of  a  drop  of  the  wine, 
was  considered  a  tremendous  desecration  ;  and  it  was  prob- 
ably the  growth  of  such  feelings  which  initiated  the  custom 
of  standing  at  the  time  of  participation.  But  still  there  were 
fathers  who  were  not  carried  away  with  the  delusion,  and  who 
knew  that  the  disposition  of  the  worshipper  was  of  far  more 
consequence  than  the  care  with  which  he  handled  the  holy 
symbols.  "  You  who  frequent  our  sacred  mysteries,"  says 
Origen,  "  know  that  when  you  receive  the  body  of  the  Lord, 
you  take  care  with  all  due  caution  and  veneration,  that  not 
even  the  smallest  particle  of  the  consecrated  gift  shall  fall  to 

'  Irenaeus,  "  Contra  Hasreses,"  v.,  c.  2,  §  3.  Clement  of  Alexandria  says 
that  "to  drink  the  blood  of  Jesus  is  to  partake  of  the  incorruption  of  the 
Lord." — Padagogue,  book  ii. 

'  "  Contra  Hsereses,"  iv.,  c.  18,  §  5. 


446  THE   EUCHARIST   IMPROPERLY   DESIGNATED. 

the  ground  and  be  wasted.'  If,  through  inattention,  any  part 
thus  falls,  you  justly  account  yourselves  guilty.  If  then,  with 
good  reason,  you  use  so  much  caution  in  preserving  His  body, 
how  can  you  esteem  it  a  lighter  sin  to  slight  the  Word  of  God 
than  to  neglect  His  body?'" 

"  The  words  of  the  Lord  are  pure  words,  as  silver  tried  in  a 
furnace  of  earth  purified  seven  times." '  The  history  of  Bap- 
tism and  the  Lord's  Supper  demonstrated  that,  when  speaking 
of  the  ordinances  of  religion,  it  is  exceedingly  dangerous  to 
depart  even  from  the  phraseology  which  the  Holy  Spirit  has 
dictated.  In  the  second  century  Baptism  was  called  "  regen- 
eration," and  the  Eucharistic  bread  was  known  by  the  com- 
pendious designation  of  "the  Lord's  body."  Such  language, 
if  typically  understood,  could  create  no  perplexity ;  but  all  by 
whom  it  was  used  did  not  give  it  a  right  interpretation,  and 
thus  many  misconceptions  were  speedily,  generated.  In  a 
short  time  names  for  which  there  is  no  warrant  in  the  Word 
of  God  were  applied  to  the  Lord's  Supper ;  and  false  doctrines 
were  eventually  deduced  from  these  ill-chosen  and  unauthor- 
ized designations.  Thus,  before  the  close  of  the  second  cent- 
ury, it  was  called  an  offering,  and  a  sacrifice,^  and  the  table  at 
which  it  was  administered  was  styled  the  altar!'  Though 
these  terms  were  now  used  rhetorically,  in  after- ages  they 
were  literally  interpreted ;  and  in  this  way  the  most  astound- 
ing errors  gradually  gained  currency.  Meanwhile  other  topics 
led  to  keen  discussion  ;  but  there  was  a  growing  disposition 
to  shroud  the  Eucharist  in  mystery;  and  hence,  for  many 
centuries,  the  question  as  to  the  manner  of  Christ's  presence 
in  the  ordinance  awakened  no  controversy. 

'  This  feelinj:^  prevailed  in  the  time  of  TertulHan.  "  Calicis  aut  panis 
etiam  nostri  aliquid  decuti  in  terram  anxie  patimur." — Dc  Corona,  c.  3. 

*  Horn.  xiii.  in  "Exod."  Opera,  ii.  176.  ^  Ps.  xii.  6. 

*  See  Kaye's  "Justin  Martyr,"  p,  94.  Irenaeus,  iv.,  c.  17,  §  5.  Tertullian, 
"  De  Oratione,"  c.  14. 

'•  "  Nonne  solemnior  erit  statio  tua,  si  et  ad  aram  Dei  steteris?"  Ter- 
tulHan, "  De  Oratione,"  c.  14,  or,  according  to  Oehlcr,  c.  19. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

CONFESSION   AND   PENANCE. 

When  the  Evangelist  Matthew  is  describing  the  ministry 
of  John  the  Baptist,  he  states  that  there  "went  out  to  him 
Jerusalem,  and  all  Judea,  and  all  the  region  round  about 
Jordan;  and  were  baptized  of  him  in  Jordan,  confessing  their 
sinsr  '  The  ministry  of  Paul  at  Ephesus  produced  similar 
results ;  for  "  fear  fell "  on  all  the  Jews  and  Greeks  dwelling 
in  that  great  capital,  "  and  many  that  believed  came,  and  con- 
fessed^ and  showed  their  deeds."  * 

The  confession  here  mentioned  obviously  flowed  spontane- 
ously from  deep  religious  convictions.  It  was  not  a  private 
admission  of  guilt  made  to  an  ecclesiastical  functionary ;  but  a 
public  acknowledgment  of  acts  which  weighed  heavily  on  the 
consciences  of  individuals,  and  which  they  felt  constrained  to 
recapitulate  and  to  condemn.  Men  awakened  to  a  sense  of 
their  sins  deemed  it  due  to  themselves  and  to  society,  to  state 
how  sincerely  they  deplored  their  past  career  ;  and  their  words 
often  produced  a  profound  impression  on  the  multitudes  to 
whom  they  were  addressed.  These  confessions  of  sin,  con- 
nected with  a  confession  of  faith  in  Christ,  were  generally  as- 
sociated with  the  ordinance  of  baptism.  They  were  not  re- 
quired from  all,  but  only  tendered  in  cases  where  there  had 
been  notorious  and  flagrant  criminality ;  and  they  were  of  a 
very  partial  character,  only  embracing  such  transgressions  as 
the  party  had  some  urgent  reason  for  specializing. 

In  the  time  of  the  apostles  those  who  embraced  the  Gos- 
pel were  immediately  baptized.  Thus,  the  three  thousand 
persons  converted  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  were  forthwith  re- 

'  Matt.  iii.  5,  6.  '  Acts  xix.  17,  18. 

(447) 


448  FASTING   BEFORE   BAPTISM. 

ceived  into  the  bosom  of  the  Church ;  and  the  PhiHppian 
jailer,  "  the  same  hour  of  the  night  "  '  when  he  hearkened  to 
*'  the  word  of  the  Lord,"  "  was  baptized,  he  and  all  his, 
straightway."  But,  soon  afterward,  the  Christian  teachers  be- 
gan to  proceed  with  greater  formality ;  and,  about  the  mid- 
die  of  the  second  century,  candidates  were  not  admitted  to  the 
ordinance  till  they  had  passed  through  a  certain  course  of  pro- 
bation. "As  many,"  says  Justin  Martyr,  "as  are  persuaded 
and  believe  that  the  things  which  we  teach  and  declare  are 
true,  and  promise  that  they  are  determined  to  live  accordingly, 
are  taught  to  pray,  and  to  beseech  God  with  fasting  to  grant 
them  remission  of  their  past  sins,  while  we  also  pray  and  fast 
with  them.  We  then  lead  them  to  a  place  where  there  is 
water,  and  there  they  are  regenerated  in  the  same  manner  as 
we  also  were ;  for  they  are  then  washed  in  that  water  in  the 
name  of  God  the  Father  and  Lord  of  the  universe,  and  of  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Spirit."  " 

These  confessions  and  penitential  exercises  were  repeated 
and  enlarged  when  persons  who  had  lapsed  into  gross  sin,  and 
who  had,  in  consequence,  forfeited  their  position  as  members 
of  the  Church,  sought  readmission  to  ecclesiastical  fellowship. 
It  would  be  difficult,  on  scriptural  grounds,  to  vindicate  the 
system  of  discipline  enforced  on  such  occasions ;  and  yet  it  is 
evident  that  it  was  established,  at  least  in  some  quarters,  as 
early  as  the  beginning  of  the  third  century.  Tertullian  gives 
a  very  striking  account  of  the  course  pursued  by  those  called 
penitents  about  that  period.  "  Confession  of  sins,"  says  he, 
"  lightens  their  burden,  as  much  as  the  dissembling  of  them 
increases  it ;  for  confession  savors  of  making  amends — dis- 
sembling, of  stubbornness Wherefore  confession  is  the 

discipline  of  a  man's  prostrating  and  humbling  himself,  enjoin- 
ing such  a  conversation  as  invites  mercy.  It  restrains  a  man 
even  as  to  the  matter  of  dress  and  food,  requiring  him  to  lie 
in  sackcloth  and  ashes,  to  hide  his  body  in  filthy  garments,  to 
afiflict  his  soul  with  sorrow,  to  exchange  for  severe  treatment 
the  sins  in  which   he  indulged ;    for  the  rest  to  use  simple 

'  Acts  xvi.  33.  "  "  Apol."  ii..  Opera,  pp.  93,  94. 


FASTING   A   SIGN   OF   SORROW.  449 

things  for  meat  and  drink,  that  is,  for  the  sake  of  the  soul, 
and  not  to  please  the  appetite :  for  the  most  part  also  to 
quicken  prayer  by  fasts,  to  groan,  to  weep,  and  to  moan  day 
and  night  before  the  Lord  his  God  ;  to  throw  himself  on  the 
ground  before  the  presbyters,  and  to  fall  on  his  knees  before 
the  beloved  of  God ;  to  enjoin  all  the  brethren  to  bear  the 
message  of  his  prayer  for  mercy — all  these  things  does  con- 
fession that  it  may  commend  repentance."  ' 

When  a  man  is  overwhelmed  with  grief,  the  state  of  his 
mind  will  often  be  revealed  by  the  loss  of  his  appetite.  He 
will  think  little  of  his  dress  and  personal  accommodation ;  and 
though  he  may  give  no  utterance  to  his  feelings,  his  general 
appearance  will  betray  to  the  eye  of  an  observer  the  depth  of 
his  affliction.  The  mourner  not  unfrequently  takes  a  melan- 
choly satisfaction  in  surrounding  himself  with  the  symbols  of 
sorrow  ;  and  we  read,  accordingly,  in  Scripture  how,  in  ancient 
times,  and  in  Eastern  countries,  he  clothed  himself  in  sack- 
cloth and  sat  in  ashes."  There  is  a  wonderful  sympathy  be- 
tween the  body  and  the  mind ;  and  as  grief  affects  the  appe- 
tite, occasional  abstinence  from  food  may  foster  a  serious  and 
contrite  spirit.  Hence  fasting  has  been  so  commonly  asso- 
ciated with  penitential  exercises. 

Fasting  is  not  fo  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  ordinary  duties 
of  a  disciple  of  Christ,"  but  rather  as  a  kind  of  discipline  in 
which  he  feels  called  on  to  engage  under  special  circumstances." 
When  oppressed  with  a  consciousness  of  guilt,  or  anxious  for 
divine  direction  on  a  critical  occasion,  or  trembling  under  the 
apprehension  of  impending  judgments,  he  thus  seeks  to  "af- 
flict his  soul,"  that  he  may  draw  near  with  deeper  humility  and 
reverence  into  the  presence  of  the  Divine  Majesty.  But,  in 
such  a  case,  every  one  should  act  according  to  the  dictates  of 
his  own  enlightened  convictions.  As  the  duty  is  extraordi- 
nary, the  self-denial  to  be  practiced  must  be  regulated  by  vari- 

^  "  De  Pcenitentia,"  c.  ix. 

^  Joshua  vii.  6 ;  Esther  iv.  i  ;  Isaiah  Iviii.  5  ;  Ezek.  xxvii.  30. 
^  See  a  "  Memorial  concerning  Personal  and  Family  Fasting,"  by  the  pi- 
ous Thomas  Boston.     Edinburgh,  1849. 
*Matt.  ix.  15, 


450  FASTING. 

ous  contingencies ;  and  no  one  can  well  prescribe  to  another 
its  amount  or  duration. 

According  to  the  Mosaic  law,  only  one  day  in  the  year — 
the  great  day  of  atonement — was  required  to  be  kept  as  a 
national  fast.'  There  is  now  no  divine  warrant  for  so  observ- 
ing any  corresponding  day,  and  for  upwards  of  a  hundred  years 
after  the  death  of  our  Lord,  there  is  no  evidence  that  any  fixed 
portion  of  time  was  thus  appropriated  under  the  sanction  of 
ecclesiastical  authority.  But  toward  the  close  of  the  second 
century  the  termination  of  the  Paschal  week  was  often  so  em- 
ployed— the  interval,  between  the  hour  on  Friday  when  our 
Lord  expired  and  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
being  spent  in  total  abstinence.^  About  the  same  time  some 
partially  abstained  from  food  on  what  were  called  stationary- 
days,  or  the  Wednesday  and  Friday  of  each  week.'  At  this 
period  some  began  also  to  observe  Xerophagiae,  or  days  on 
which  they  used  neither  flesh  nor  wine.*  Not  a  few  saw  the 
danger  of  this  ascetic  tendency ;  but,  whilst  it  betokened  zeal, 
it  had  also  "  a  show  of  wisdom,"  ^  and  it  silently  made  great 
progress.  Toward  the  close  of  the  third  century  the  whole 
Church  was  already  pervaded  by  its  influence. 

Fasting  has  been  well  described  as  "  the  outward  shell "  of 
penitential  sorrow,  and  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  its  spir. 
itual  elements.  It  is  its  accidental  accompaniment,  and  not 
one  of  its  true  and  essential  features.  A  man  may  "  bow  down 
his  head  as  a  bulrush,"  or  fast,  or  clothe  himself  in  sackcloth, 

'  Lev.  xxiii.  27. 

'  The  text  Matt.  ix.  1 5  was  urged  in  support  of  this  observance.  See  Ter- 
tullian,  "  De  Jejun,"  c.  ii. 

'  "  Wednesday  being  selected  because  on  that  day  the  Jews  took  counsel 
to  destroy  Christ,  and  Friday  because  that  was  the  day  of  His  crucifixion." 
— Kayes  Tertit/h'an,  p.  418.  As  Wednesday  was  dedicated  to  Mercury 
and  F"riday  to  Venus,  this  fasting,  according  to  Clement,  signified  to  the 
more  advanced  disciple,  that  he  was  to  renounce  the  love  of  gain  and  the 
love  of  pleasure.     Kaye's  "  Clement,"  p.  454. 

*  These  Xerophagiae,  or  Dry  Food  Days,  were  even  now  objected  to  by 
some  of  the  more  enlightened  Christians  on  the  ground  that  they  were  an 
import  from  heathenism.     Tertullian,  "  De  Jejun,"  c.  ii. 

'  Col.  ii.  23. 


PENITENTIAL   DISCIPLINE.  45 1 

when  he  is  an  utter  stranger  to  that  "  repentance  to  salvation 
not  to  be  repented  of."  The  hypocrite  may  put  on  the  out- 
ward badges  of  mourning  merely  with  a  view  to  regain  a  posi- 
tion in  the  Church,  whilst  the  sincere  penitent  may  "  anoint 
his  head  and  wash  his  face,"  and  reveal  to  the  eye  of  the  cas- 
ual spectator  no  tokens  of  contrition.  As  repentance  is  a  spir- 
itual exercise,  it  can  only  be  recognized  by  spiritual  signs  ;  and 
the  rulers  of  the  ancient  Church  committed  a  capital  error 
when  they  proposed  to  test  it  by  certain  dietary  indications. 
Their  penitential  discipline  was  directly  opposed  to  the  genu- 
ine spirit  of  the  Gospel ;  and  was  the  fountain  of  many  of  the  su- 
perstitions which,  like  a  river  of  death,  soon  overspread  Chris- 
tendom. Whilst  repentance  was  reduced  to  a  mechanical 
round  of  bodily  exercises,  the  doctrine  of  a  free  salvation  was 
practically  repudiated. 

In  connection  with  the  appearance  of  a  system  of  peniten- 
tial discipline,  involving  in  some  cases  a  penance  of  several 
years*  continuance,*  the  distinction  of  venial  and  mortal  sins 
now  began  to  be  recognized.  Venial  sins  were  transgressions 
which  any  sincere  believer  might  commit,  whilst  mortal  sins 
were  such  as  were  considered  incompatible  with  the  genuine  pro- 
fession of  Christianity.  Penance  was  prescribed  only  to  those 
who  had  been  guilty  of  mortal  sins.  Its  severity  and  duration 
varied  with  the  character  of  the  offence,  and  was  soon  regu- 
lated according  to  an  exact  scale  arranged  by  the  rulers  of 
the  Church  in  their  ecclesiastical  conventions. 

About  the  middle  of  the  third  century  a  new  arrangement 
was  introduced,  with  a  view  to  promote  the  more  exact  ad- 
ministration of  penitential  discipline.  During  the  Decian  per- 
secution which  occurred  at  this  time,  many  were  induced  by 
fear  to  abandon  the  profession  of  the  Gospel ;  and,  on  the  re- 
turn of  better  days,  those  who  sought  restoration  to  Christian 
privileges  were  so  numerous  that,  in  the  larger  churches,  it  was 
deemed  expedient  to  require  the  lapsed,  in  the  first  instance, 
to  address  themselves  to  one  of  the  presbyters  appointed  for 
their  special  examination.     The  business  of  this  functionary, 

'  Thus  Cyprian,  Epist.  liii.,  p.  169,  speaks  of  a  penance  of  three  years'  du- 
ration. 


452  INCREASING  SPIRITUAL  DARKNESS. 

who  was  known  by  the  designation  of  the  Penitentiary^  was  to 
hear  the  confessions  of  the  penitents,  to  ascertain  the  extent 
and  circumstances  of  their  apostasy,  and  to  announce  the  pen- 
ance required  from  each  by  the  existing  ecclesiastical  regula- 
tions. The  disclosures  made  to  the  Penitentiary  did  not  su- 
persede the  necessity  of  public  confession  ;  it  was  simply  the 
duty  of  this  minister  to  give  to  the  lapsed  such  instructions  as 
his  professional  experience  enabled  him  to  supply,  including 
directions  as  to  the  fasts  they  should  observe  and  the  sins  they 
should  openly  acknowledge.  Under  the  guidance  of  the  Peni- 
tentiaries, the  system  of  discipline  for  trangressors  was  still 
farther  matured  ;  and  at  length,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
century,  the  penitents  were  divided  into  various  classes,  ac- 
cording to  their  supposed  degrees  of  unworthiness.  The  mem- 
bers of  each  class  were  obliged  to  occupy  a  particular  position 
in  the  place  of  worship  when  the  congregation  assembled  for 
religious  exercises.'' 

The  institution  known  as  Auricular  Confession  had,  as  yet, 
no  existence.  In  the  early  Church  the  disciples,  under  ordinary 
circumstances,  were  neither  required  nor  expected,  at  stated 
seasons,  to  enter  into  secret  conference  with  any  ecclesiasti- 
cal searcher  of  consciences.  When  a  professing  Christian  com- 
mitted a  heinous  transgression  by  which  religion  was  scandal- 
ized, he  was  obliged,  before  being  readmitted  to  communion, 
to  express  his  sorrow  in  the  face  of  the  congregation  ;  and  the 
revelations  made  to  the  Penitentiary  did  not  relieve  him  from 
this  act  of  humiliation.  It  is  apparent  that  the  whole  system 
of  penance  is  an  unauthorized  addition  to  the  ordinances  of 
primitive  Christianity.  Of  such  a  system  we  do  not  find  even 
a  trace  in  the  New  Testament ;  and  under  its  blighting  influ- 
ence, the  religion  of  the  Church  gradually  became  little  better 
than  a  species  of  refined  heathenism. 

The  spiritual  darkness  settling  down  upon  the  Christian 
commonwealth  may  be  traced  in  the  growing  obscurity  of  the 
ecclesiastical  nomenclature.  The  power  and  the  form  of  god- 
liness began  to  be  confounded,  and  the  same  term  was  cm- 

'  Socrates,  v.,  c.  19.  'See  canon  xi.  of  the  Council  of  Nice. 


THE   TRUE   REPENTANCE.  453 

ployed  to  denote  penance  and  repentance.'  Bodily  mortifica- 
tion was  mistaken  for  holiness,  and  celibacy  for  sanctity.* 
Other  errors  of  an  equally  grave  character  became  current,  for 
the  penitent  was  described  as  making  satisfaction  for  his  sins 
by  his  fasts  and  his  outward  acts  of  self-abasement,'  and  thus 
the  all-sufficiency  of  the  great  atonement  was  openly  ignored. 
Thus,  too,  the  doctrine  of  a  free  salvation  to  transgressors 
could  no  longer  be  proclaimed,  for  pardon  was  clogged  with 
conditions  as  burdensome  to  the  sinner,  as  they  were  alien  to 
the  spirit  of  the  New  Testament.  The  doctrine  that  "  a  man 
is  justified  by  faith  without  the  deeds  of  the  law,"  *  reveals  the 
folly  of  the  ancient  penitential  discipline.  Our  Father  in 
heaven  demands  no  useless  tribute  of  mortification  from  His 
children  ;  He  merely  requires  us  to  "  bring  forth  fruits  meet 
for  repentance."  '  "  Is  not  this  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen  ?" 
saith  the  Lord,  "  to  loose  the  bands  of  wickedness,  to  undo  the 
heavy  burdens,  and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  and  that  ye 
break  every  yoke  ?  Is  it  not  to  deal  thy  bread  to  the  hungry, 
and  that  thou  bring  the  poor  that  are  cast  out  to  thy  house  ? 
when  thou  seest  the  naked,  that  thou  cover  him ;  and  that 
thou  hide  not  thyself  from  thine  own  flesh  ?  Then  shall  thy 
light  break  forth  as  the  morning,  and  thine  health  shall  spring 
forth  speedily:  and  thy  righteousness  shall  go  before  thee  ; 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  thy  rere-ward."  ° 

*  See  Cyprian,  Epist.  xl.,  p.  53,  and  "  ad  Demetrianum,"  p.  442. 

*  See  p.  382,  note  3.  ^  See  pp.  418,  419. 

*  Rom.  iii.  28.  ^  Matt.  iii.  8.  ^  Isa.  Iviii.  6-8. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    SECOND 
CENTURY. 

Justin  Martyr,  who  had  travelled  much,  and  who  was  as 
well  acquainted  with  the  state  of  the  Church  about  the  middle 
of  the  second  century  as  most  of  his  contemporaries,  has  left 
behind  him  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  its  worship  was 
then  conducted.  This  account,  which  has  already  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  reader,'  represents  one  individual  as  presiding 
over  each  Christian  community,  whether  in  the  city  or  in  the 
country.  Where  the  Church  consisted  of  a  single  congregation, 
and  where  only  one  of  the  elders  was  competent  to  preach,  it 
is  easy  to  understand  how  the  society  was  regulated.  In  ac- 
cordance with  apostolic  arrangement,  the  presbyter,  who  labor- 
ed in  the  Word  and  doctrine,  was  counted  worthy  of  double 
honor,"  and  was  recognized  as  the  stated  chairman  of  the 
solemn  assembly.  His  brother  elders  contributed  in  various 
ways  to  assist  him  in  the  supervision  of  the  flock ;  but  its 
prosperity  greatly  depended  on  his  own  zeal,  piety,  prudence, 
and  ability.  Known  at  first  as  the  president,  and  afterward  dis- 
tinguished by  the  title  of  the  bishop,  he  occupied  very  much 
the  same  position  as  the  minister  of  a  modern  parish. 

Where  a  congregation  had  more  than  one  preaching  elder, 
the  case  was  different.  There,  several  individuals  were  in  the 
habit  of  addressing  the  auditory,'  and  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
president  to  preserve  order ;  to  interpose,  perhaps,  by  occasional 
suggestions ;  and  to  close  the  exercise.  When  several  con- 
gregations with  a  plurality  of  preaching  ciders  existed  in  the 

'  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap,  i.,  p.  424.  *  I  Tim.  v.  17. 

^  Apost.  Constit.,  ii.,  c.  17. 
(454) 


EPISTLES   OF   CLEMENT   AND   POLYCARP.  455' 

same  city,  the  whole  were  affiliated  ;  and  a  president,  acknowl- 
edged by  them  all,  superintended  their  united  movements. 

Much  obscurity  hangs  over  the  general  condition  of  the 
Christian  commonwealth  in  the  first  half  of  the  second  century  ; 
but  it  so  happens  that  two  authentic  and  valuable  documents 
which  still  remain,  one  of  which  was  written  about  the  begin- 
ning and  the  other  about  the  close  of  this  period,  throw  much 
light  upon  the  question  of  Church  government.  These  docu- 
ments are  the  "  Epistle  of  Clement  to  the  Corinthians,"  and 
the  "  Epistle  of  Polycarp  to  the  Philippians."  As  to  the  mat- 
ters respecting  which  they  bear  testimony,  we  could  not  desire 
more  competent  witnesses  than  the  authors  of  these  two  let- 
ters. The  one  lived  in  the  West ;  the  other,  in  the  East. 
Clement,  believed  by  some  to  be  the  same  who  is  mentioned 
by  the  Apostle  Paul,'  was  a  presbyter  of  the  Church  of  Rome  ; 
Polycarp,  who,  in  his  youth,  had  conversed  with  the  Aposile 
John,  was  a  proebyterof  the  Church  of  Smyrna.  Clement  died 
about  the  close  of  the  first  century,  and  his  letter  to  the  Co- 
rinthians was  written  three  or  four  years  before  ;  that  is,  immedi- 
ately after  the  Domitian  persecution ;  ^  Polycarp  survived  un- 
til an  advanced  period  of  the  second  century,  and  his  letter  to 
the  Philippians  may  be  dated  fifty  years  or  upwards  later  than 
the  Epistle  of  Clement." 

1  Phil.  iv.  3. 

"^  See  Donaldson's  "  Crit.  Hist,  of  Christian  Literature  and  Doctrine  from 
the  Death  of  the  Apostles  to  the  Nicene  Council,"  p.  91.     London,  1864. 

^  No  less  than  five  persons  are  mentioned  as  having  preceded  Polycarp  in 
the  see  of  Smyrna,  viz.,  Aristo,  Stratseas,  another  Aristo,  Apelles,  and  Bu- 
colus.  See  Jacobson's  "  Patres  Apostolici,"  ii.  564,  565,  note.  It  is  not  at 
all  probable  that  he  became  the  senior  presbyter  long  before  the  middle  of 
the  second  century.  Irenaeus,  indeed,  tells  us  that  he  was  constituted  bishop 
of  Smyrna  by  the  apostles  (lib.  iii.,  c,  3,  §  4) — a  statement  which  implies  that 
at  least  two  of  them  were  concerned  in  his  designation  to  the  ministry  ;  but 
as  he  was  still  young  when  the  last  survivor  of  the  twelve  died  in  extreme 
old  age,  the  words  may  not  mean  that  he  was  actually  ordained  by  those  to 
whom  our  Lord  originally  intrusted  the  organization  of  the  Church.  The 
language  may  simply  import  that  John  and  perhaps  Philip  had  announced 
his  future  eminence  when  he  was  yet  a  child,  and  that  thus,  like  Timothy, 
he  was  invested  with  the  pastoral  commission  "  according  to  the  prophecies  " 
which  they  had  previously  delivered.     See  i  Tim.  i.  18;  iv.  14.     But,  per- 


456  CLEMENT   TO   THE   CORINTHIANS. 

Toward  the  termination  of  the  first  century  a  spirit  of  dis- 
cord disturbed  the  Church  of  Corinth  ;  and  the  Church  of 
Rome,  anxious  to  restore  peace,  addressed  a  fraternal  letter 
to  the  distracted  community.  The  Epistle  was  drawn  up  by 
Clement,  who  was  then  the  leading  minister  of  the  Italian 
capital  ;  but,  as  it  is  written  in  the  name  of  the  whole  broth- 
erhood, and  had  obtained  their  sanction,  it  possesses  all  the 
authority  of  a  public  and  official  correspondence.  From  it  the 
constitution  of  the  Church  of  Corinth,  and,  by  implication,  of 
the  Church  of  Rome,  is  easily  ascertained ;  and  it  furnishes 
abundant  proof  that,  at  the  time  of  its  composition,  both  these 
Christian  societies  were  under  presbyterial  government.  Had 
a  prelate  then  presided  in  either  Church,  a  circumstance  so 
important  could  not  have  been  entirely  overlooked,  more  es- 
pecially as  the  document  is  of  considerable  length,  and  as  it 
treats  expressly  upon  the  subject  of  ecclesiastical  polity.  It 
appears  that  some  members  of  the  community  to  which  it  is 
addressed  had  acted  undutifully  toward  those  who  were  over 
them  in  the  Lord,  and  it  accordingly  condemns  in  very  em- 
phatic terms  a  course  of  proceeding  so  disreputable.  "  It  is 
shameful,  beloved,"  says,  the  Church  of  Rome  in  this  letter, 
**  it  is  exceedingly  shameful  and  unworthy  of  your  Christian 
profession,  to  hear  that  the  most  firm  and  a?icicnt  Church  of 
the  Corinthians  should,  by  one  or  two  persons,  be  led  into  a 
sedition  against  its  elders."  '  "  Let  the  flock  of  Christ  be  in 
peace  with  THE  ELDERS  THAT  ARE  SET  OVER  IT." "  Having 
stated  that  the  apostles  ordained  those  to  whom  the  charge 
of  the  Christian  Church  was  originally  committed,  it  is  added 
that  they  gave  directions  in  what  manner,  after  the  decease  of 
these  primitive  pastors,  "  other  chosen  and  approved  men  should 
succeed  to  their  ministry."'  The  Epistle  thus  continues: 
"  Wherefore  we  can  not  think  that  those  may  justly  be  thrown 
out  of  their  ministry  who  were  either  ordained  by  them  (the 

haps,  by  "apostles''  Irenaeus  understands  (7/^j/fl/;"i!r  men,  ox  ministers  or- 
dained by  the  inspired  heralds  of  the  Gospel.  Thus  Clemens  Romanus  is 
called  an  apostle  by  Clemens  Alexandrinus.  Strom,  iv.,  p.  516.  See  also 
Euseb.  12. 

'  Sec.  74.  '  Sec.  54.  '  Sec.  44. 


CLEMENT  TO   THE   CORINTHIANS.  45/ 

apostles),  or  afterward  by  other  approved  men  with  the  appro- 
bation of  the  whole  Church,  and  who  have,  with  all  lowliness 
and  innocency,  ministered  to  the  flock  of  Christ  in  peace  and 
without  self-interest,  and  have  heen  for  a  longtime  commend- 
ed by  all.  For  it  would  be  no  small  sin  in  us,  should  we  cast 
off  those  from  the  ministry  who  holily  and  without  blame 
fulfil  the  duties  of  it.  Blessed  are  those  elders  who,  having  fin- 
ished their  course  before  these  times,  have  obtained  a  fruitful 
and  perfect  dissolution." '  Toward  the  conclusion  of  the  let- 
ter, the  parties  who  had  created  this  confusion  in  the  Church 
of  Corinth  have  the  following  admonition  addressed  to  them  : 
"  Do  ye,  therefore,  who  laid  the  foundation  of  the  sedition, 
submit  yourselves  unto  your  elders,  and  be  instructed  unto  re- 
pentance, bending  the  knees  of  your  hearts."" 

In  the  preservation  of  this  precious  letter  we  are  bound  to 
recognize  the  hand  of  Providence.'  Its  instructions  were  so 
highly  appreciated  by  the  ancient  Christians  that  it  continued 
to  be  publicly  read  in  many  of  their  churches  for  centuries 
afterward.*  It  is  universally  acknowledged  to  be  genuine  ;  it 
breathes  the  benevolent  spirit  of  a  primitive  presbyter  ;  and  it 
is  distinguished  by  its  sobriety  and  earnestness.  It  was  writ- 
ten upon  the  verge  of  the  apostolic  age,  and  it  is  the  produc- 
tion of  a  pious,  sensible,  and  aged  minister  who  preached  for 
years  in  the  capital  of  the  Empire.  The  Church  of  Rome  has 
since  advanced  the  most  extravagant  pretensions,  and  has  ap- 
pealed in  support  of  them  to  ecclesiastical  tradition  ;  but  here, 
an  elder  of  her  own — one  who  had  conversed  with  the  apos- 
tles, and  one  whom  she  delights  to  honor  ^ — deliberately  comes 

'  Sec.  44.  All  these  quotations  attest  the  late  date  of  the  Epistle.  Tille- 
mont  places  it  in  A.D.  97.  Eusebius  had  no  doubt  as  to  its  late  date.  See 
his  "  History,"  iii.  16. 

^  Sec.  57. 

'  For  many  centuries  it  was  considered  lost.  At  length  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  I.  a  copy  of  it  was  discovered  appended  to  a  very  ancient  manu- 
script containing  the  Septuagint  and  Greek  Testament — the  manuscript 
now  known  as  the  Codex  Alexandrinus. 

*■  Euseb.  iii.  16  ;   iv.  23. 

'  See  the  Romish  Breviary  under  the  23d  of  November,  where  a  number 
of  absurd  stories  are  told  concerning  him. 


458  THE   EPISTLE   OF   POLYCARP. 

forward  and  ignores  her  assumptions  !  She  fondly  believes 
that  Clement  was  an  early  Pope,  but  the  good  man  himself 
admits  that  he  was  only  one  of  the  presbyters.  Had  there 
then  been  a  bishop  of  Corinth,  this  letter  would  unques- 
tionably have  exhorted  the  malcontents  to  submit  to  his  juris- 
diction ;  or,  had  there  been  a  bishop  of  Rome,  it  would  not 
have  failed  to  dilate  upon  the  benefits  of  episcopal  govern- 
ment. But,  as  to  the  existence  of  any  such  functionary  in 
either  Church,  it  preserves  throughout  a  most  intelligible  si- 
lence. It  says  that  the  apostles  ordained  the  first-fruits  of 
their  conversions,  not  as  bishops  and  presbyters  and  deacons, 
but  as  "  bishops  and  deacons  over  such  as  should  afterward  be- 
lieve ";  *  and  when  it  was  written,  the  terms  bishop  and  pres- 
byter were  still  used  interchangeably.* 

The  Epistle  of  Polycarp  bears  equally  decisive  testimony. 
It  was  drawn  up  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century,'  and 
though  the  last  survivor  of  the  apostles  was  now  dead  for 
many  years,  no  general  change  had  meanwhile  taken  place  in 
the  form  of  church  government.  This  document  purports  to 
be  the  letter  of  "  Polycarp  and  the  elders  who  are  with  him 
to  the  Church  of  God  which  is  at  Philippi  ";  but  it  does  not 
recognize  a  bishop  as  presiding  over  the  Christian  community 
to  which  it  is  addressed."  The  Church  was  still  in  much  the 
same  state  as  when  Paul  wrote  to  "  the  saints  in  Christ  Jesus 
which  are  at  Philippi,  with  the  bishops  and deacois  "/  *  for  Poly- 
carp was  certainly  not  aware  of  the  existence  of  any  new  of- 
fice-bearers ;  and  he  accordingly  exhorts  his  correspondents  to 

'  Sec.  42. 

'  They  continued  to  be  so  used  when  the  Peshito  version  of  the  New 
Testament  was  made.  That  version  is  assigned  by  the  best  authorities, to 
the  former  half  of  the  second  century.     See  p.  384,  note. 

'  It  is  of  nearly  the  same  date  as  the  first  Apology  of  Justin  Martyr. 

*  oi  avv  avT(^  TrpeaiivTepoi — evidently  equivalent  to  aviinpeaiivrtpai.  See  I 
Pet.  V.  I. 

'  Bishop  Lightfoot  bears  this  remarkable  testimony  concerning  it : 
"  Though  two  or  three  chapters  are  devoted  to  injunctions  respecting  the 
ministry  of  the  Church,  f/iere  is  not  an  allusion  to  episcopacy  from  begin- 
ning to  end." — Contemporary  Review  for  May,  1875,  p.  839. 

'Phil.  i.  I. 


THE   EARLY   BISHOP   A   PRESBYTERIAN   MODERATOR.      459 

be  "  subject  to  the  presbyters  and  deacons^  '  "  Let  tJie  presby- 
ters^' says  he,  "  be  compassionate,  merciful  to  all,  bringing 
back  such  as  are  in  error,  seeking  out  all  those  that  are  weak, 
not  neglecting  the  widow  or  the  fatherless,  or  the  poor ;  but 
providing  always  what  is  good  in  the  sight  of  God  and  men  ; 
abstaining  from  all  wrath,  respect  of  persons,  and  unrighteous 
judgment ;  being  far  from  all  covetousness  ;  not  ready  to  be- 
lieve anything  against  any  ;  not  severe  in  judgment,  knowing 
that  we  are  all  debtors  in  point  of  sin."  * 

It  is  stated  by  the  most  learned  of  the  fathers  of  the  fourth 
century  that  the  Church  was  at  first  "  governed  by  the  com- 
mon council  of  the  presbyters  ";  ^  and  these  two  letters  prove 
most  satisfactorily  the  accuracy  of  the  representation.  They 
show  that  throughout  the  whole  of  the  apostolic  age  this  species 
of  polity  continued.  But  the  Scriptures  ordain  that  "  all  things 
be  done  decently  and  in  order";*  and,  as  a  common  council 
requires  an  official  head,  or  mayor,  to  take  the  chair  at  its 
meetings,  and  to  act  on  its  behalf,  the  ancient  eldership,  or  pres- 
bytery, had  a  president  or  moderator.  The  duty  and  honor 
of  presiding  commonly  devolved  on  the  senior  member  of  the 
judicatory.  We  thus  account  for  those  catalogues  of  bish- 
ops, reaching  back  to  the  days  of  the  apostles,  which 
are  furnished  by  some  of  the  writers  of  antiquity.  From  the 
first,  every  presbytery  had  its  president  ;  and  as  the  transition 
from  the  moderator  to  the  bishop  was  the  work  of  time,  the  dis- 
tinction at  one  period  was  little  more  than  nominal.  Hence, 
writers  who  lived  when  the  change  was  taking  place,  or  when 
it  had  only  been  recently  accomplished,  speak  of  these  two 
functionaries  as  identical.  But  in  their  attempts  to  enumer- 
ate the  bishops  of  the  apostolic  era,  they  encountered  a  prac- 
tical difficulty.  The  elders  who  were  at  first  set  over  the 
Christian  societies  were  all  ordained,  in  each  church,  on  the 
same  occasion,*  and  were,  perhaps,  of  nearly  the  same  age,  so 
that  neither  their  date  of  appointment,  nor  their  years,  could 
well  determine  the  precedence  ;  and,  in  general,  no  single  in- 
dividual continued  permanently  to  occupy  the  office  of  mod- 

'  Sec.  5.  -  Sec.  6.  °  Jerome,  "  Comment,  in  Tit." 

*  I  Cor.  xiv.  40.  ^  As  in  Acts  xiv.  23. 


460  THE   EPISCOPAL   SUCCESSION   UNCERTAIN. 

erator.  There  may  have  been  instances  in  which  a  stated 
president  was  chosen,  and  yet  it  is  remarkable  that  not  even 
one  such  case  can  be  clearly  established  by  the  evidence  of 
contemporary  documents.  James,  called  the  Lord's  brother, 
seems  to  have  possessed  great  weight  of  character  and  much 
influence  ;  it  is  not  improbable  that  at  one  time  he  always 
acted,  when  present,  as  chairman  of  the  mother  presbytery ; 
and,  accordingly,  the  writers  of  succeeding  ages  have  described 
him  as  the  first  bishop  of  the  Jewish  metropolis;'  but  so 
little  consequence  was  originally  attached  to  the  office  of 
moderator,^  that,  in  as  far  as  the  New  Testament  is  concerned, 
the  situation  held  by  this  distinguished  man  can  be  inferred 
only  from  some  very  obscure  and  doubtful  intimations.^  In 
Rome,  and  elsewhere,  the  primitive  elders  at  first,  perhaps, 
filled  the  chair  alternately."  Hence  the  so-called  episcopal 
succession  is  most  uncertain  and  confused  at  the  very  time 
when  it  should  be  sustained  by]  evidence  the  most  decisive 
and  perspicuous.  The  lists  of  bishops,  commencing  with  the 
ministry  of  the  apostles,  and  extending  over  the  latter  half  of 
the  first  century,  are  little  better  than  a  mass  of  contradic- 
tions. The  compilers  set  down,  almost  at  random,  the  names 
of  some  distinguished  men  whom  they  found  connected  with 
the  different  churches,  and  thus  the  discrepancies  are  nearly 
as  numerous  as  the  catalogues.' 

'  The  extreme  anxiety  of  Eusebius  to  give  currency  to  this  legend  is  ap- 
parent from  his,  frequent  repetitions  of  it.  See  his  "  Hist.''  ii.  23,  iii.  5,  iii. 
7,  iv.  s.vii.  19. 

^  I  make  no  apology  for  employing  a  word  which  even  the  Benedictine 
Editor  of  Origen  has  adopted.  Thus  he  speaks  of  the  "  senatores  et  mod- 
eratores  ecclesiae  Dei." — Contra  Celsum,  iii.  30,  Opera,  i.  466. 

'  Such  as  Acts  xxi.  18 ;  Gal.  ii.  12. 

*  The  last  surviving  elder  ordained  by  the  apostles  was  perhaps  the 
first  constant  moderator.  His  position  gave  him  a  peculiar  claim  to  prece- 
dence. 

'  "  At  Antioch  some,  as  Origen  and  Eusebius,  make  Ignatius  to  succeed 
Peter.  Jerome  makes  him  the  third  bishop,  and  piaceth  Evodius  before 
him.     Others,  therefore,  to  solve  that,  make  them  contemporary  bishops  ; 

the   one,    of  the  Church    of  the  Jews  ;   the  other,  of  the  Gentiles 

Come  we  to  Rome,  and  here  the  succession  is  as  muddy  as  the  Tiber  itself; 
for  here  Tertullian,   Rufinus,   and  several  others,  place   Clement   next   to 


THE   SENIOR   PRESBYTER   THE   CHAIRMAN.  461 

But  when  Clement  dictated  the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians 
most  of  the  elders,  ordained  by  the  apostles  or  evangelists 
about  the  middle  of  the  first  century,  had  finished  their 
career;  and  there  is  little  reason  to  doubt  that  this  eminent 
minister  was  then  the  father  of  the  Roman  presbytery.  The 
superscription  of  the  letter  to  the  Philippians  supplies  direct 
proof  that,  at  the  time  when  it  was  written,  Polycarp  likewise 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  presbytery  of  Smyrna.'  Other  cir- 
cumstances indicate  that  the  senior  presbyter  now  began  to 
be  regarded  as  the  stated  president  of  the  eldership.  Hilary, 
one  of  the  best  commentators  of  the  ancient  Church,"  bears 
explicit  testimony  to  the  existence  of  such  an  arrangement. 
"  At  first,"  says  he,  "  presbyters  were  called  bishops,  so  that 
when  the  one  (who  was  called  bishop)  passed  away,  the  next 
in  order  took  his  place."  ^  "  Though  every  bishop  is  a  pres- 
byter, every  presbyter  is  not  a  bishop,  for  he  is  bishop  who  is 
first  among  the  presbyters."  *  As  soon  as  the  regulation  rec- 
ognizing the  claims  of  seniority  was  proposed,  its  advocates 
were  prepared  to  recommend  it  by  arguments  which  possessed 
at  least  considerable  plausibility.     The  Scriptures  frequently 

Peter.  Irenasus  and  Eusebius  set  Anacletus  before  him  ;  Epiphanius  and 
Optatus  both  Anacletus  and  Cletus  ;  Augustinus  and  Damasus,  with  others, 
make  Anacletus,  Cletus,  and  Linus  all  to  precede  him.  What  way  shall 
we  find  to  extricate  ourselves  out  of  this  labyrinth  ?  " — Stillingfleet' s  Ireni- 
cum,  part  ii.,  ch.  7,  p.  321. 

'  "  Polycarp,  and  the  elders  who  are  with  him,  to  the  Church  of  God 
which  is  at  Philippi." 

^  A  Roman  deacon  of  the  fourth  century.  His  works  are  commonly  ap- 
pended to  those  of  Ambrose. 

^  "  Primum  presbyteri  episcopi  appellabantur,  ut,  recedente  uno,  sequens 
ei  succederet." — Comment,  in  Eph.  iv. 

*  "  Ut  omnis  episcopus  presbyter  sit,  non  omnis  presbyter  episcopus  ;  hie 
enim  episcopus  est,  qui  inter  presbyteros  primus  est." — Comment,  in  i  Tim. 
iii.  According-  to  a  learned  writer  this  arrangement  extended  farther. 
"  Ita,  uti  videtur,  comparatum  fuit,  ut  defuncto  presbytero,  primus  ordine 
diaconus  locum  occuparet  ultimum  presbyterorum,  novusque  in  locum  no- 
vissimum  substitueretur  diaconus ;  decedente  vero  episcopo,  primus  ordine 
presbyter  in  ejus  locum  sufficeretur,  et  primus  in  ordine  diaconorum  novissi- 
mam  presbyterii  sedem  capesseret." — Thomce  Brtmonis  Judicium  de  auc- 
tore  Can.  et  Const,  quce  apost.  dicuntur.     Cotelerius,  ii.,  Ap.,  p.  179. 


462  THE   SENIOR   PRESBYTER   THE   CHAIRMAN. 

inculcate  respect  for  age,  and  when  the  apostle  says,  "  Like- 
wise, ye  younger,  submit  yourselves  unto  the  elder,"  '  he  seems, 
from  the  connection  in  which  the  words  occur,  to  refer  specially 
to  the  deportment  of  junior  ministers."  In  the  lists  of  the 
Twelve  to  be  found  in  the  New  Testament  the  name  of  Peter 
stands  first ; '  and  if,  as  is  believed,  he  was  more  advanced  in 
years  than  any  of  his  brethren,*  it  is  easy  to  understand  why 
this  precedence  has  been  given  to  him ;  for  in  all  likelihood,  he 
usually  acted  as  president  of  the  apostolic  presbytery.  Even 
the  construction  of  corporate  bodies  in  the  Roman  Empire 
suggested  the  arrangement  ;  for  it  is  well  known  that,  in  the 
senates  of  the  cities  out  of  Italy,  the  oldest  decurion,  under 
the  title  principalis,  acted  as  president.'  Did  we,  therefore, 
even  want  the  direct  evidence  already  quoted,  we  might  have 
inferred,  on  other  grounds,  that,  at  an  early  date,  the  senior 
member  generally  presided  wherever  an  eldership  was  erected. 
As  a  point  of  such  interest  relating  to  the  constitution  of 
the  ancient  Church  should  be  carefully  elucidated,  it  may  be 
necessary  to  fortify  the  statement  of  Hilary  by  some  addition- 
al evidence.  This  candid  and  judicious  commentator  did  not 
venture,  without  due  authority,  to  describe  the  original  order 
of  succession  in  the  presidential  chair ;  and  he  had  access  to 
sources  of  information  which  have  long  ceased  to  be  available  ; 
but  the  credit  of  the  f^ct  for  which  he  vouches  does  not  rest 
upon  the  unsustained  support  of  his  solitary  attestation. 
Whilst  his  averment  is  recommended  by  internal  marks  of 
probability,  and  countenanced   by  several    scriptural    intima- 

'  I  Pet,  V.  5.  It  is  a  curious  and  striking  fact,  arguing  strongly  in  favor 
of  the  antiquity  of  their  Church  polity,  that  among  the  Vaudois  Barbs  o. 
old  the  claims  of  seniority  were  distinctly  acknowledged.  The  following 
rule  of  discipline  is  taken  from  one  of  their  ancient  MSS.  :  "  He  that  is  re- 
ceived the  last  (into  the  ministry  by  imposition  of  hands)  ought  to  do  noth- 
ing without  the  p(-rmission  of  him  that  was  received  before  him." — Afore- 
land,  History  of  the  Evans;.  C/t.  of  the  Valleys  of  Piedmont,  p.  74. 

*  He  is  speaking  immediately  before  of  presbyters.     See  i  Pet.  v.  1-4. 
'Matt.   X.  2,  "  The  first,  Simon,  who  is  called   Peter."     Mark  iii.  16; 

Luke  vi.  14;  Acts  i.  13. 

*  Jerome  in  "  Jovin."  i.  14. 

'  Savigny's  "  History  of  the  Roman  Law,"  by  Cathcart,  i.  pp.  62,  63,  75. 


THE   SENIOR   PRESBYTER   THE   CHAIRMAN.  463 

tions,  it  is  also  corroborated  by  a  large  amount  of  varied  and 
independent  testimony.  We  shall  now  exhibit  some  of  the 
most  striking  portions  of  the  confirmatory  proof. 

I.  The  language  applied  in  ancient  documents  to  the  prim- 
itive presidents  of  the  Churches  illustrates  the  accuracy  of  this 
venerable  commentator.  In  one  of  the  earliest  extant  notices 
of  these  ecclesiastical  functionaries,  a  bishop  is  designated 
"the  old  man.'"  The  age  of  the  individual  who  is  thus  dis- 
tinguished was  not  a  matter  of  accident ;  for  each  of  his 
brethren  in  the  same  position,  all  over  the  Church,  was  called 
"  father  " '  on  the  ground  of  his  seniority.  The  official  title 
"  Pope^'  which  has  the  same  meaning,  had  also  the  same 
origin.  It  was  given  at  first  to  every  president  of  the  elder- 
ship, because  he  was,  in  point  of  fact,  the  father,  or  senior 
member,  of  the  judicatory.  It  soon  ceased  to  convey  this 
meaning,  but  it  still  remained  as  a  memorial  of  the  primitive 
regimen. 

II.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  in  none  of  the  great  sees  before 
the  close  of  the  second  century,  do  we  find  any  trace  of  the 
existence  of  a  young,  or  even  of  a  middle-aged  bishop.  When  Ig- 
natius of  Antioch  was  martyred,  he  was  verging  on  fourscore . 
Polycarp  of  Smyrna  finished  his  career  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
six  ;  Pothinus  of  Lyons  fell  a  victim  to  persecution  when  he 
was  upwards  of  ninety  ; '  Narcissus  of  Jerusalem  was  at  least 
that  age  when  he  was  first  placed  in  the  presidential  chair ;  * 
one  of  his  predecessors,  named  Justus,  is  said  to  have  been  one 
hundred  and  ten  when  he  reached  the  same  dignity ;  ^  and 

*  Euseb.  iii.  23.     6  TvpEa(ivT7/c. 

Hn  Africa  the  senior  bishop  or  metropolitan  was  caWed /afAer.  See 
Bingham,  i.  200.  In  the  second  century  we  find  the  name  given  to  the 
Roman  bishop.  See  Routh's  "  Rehquiae,"  i.  287.  According  to  Eutychius, 
his  predecessor  in  the  see  of  Alexandria  in  the  early  part  of  the  third  century 
was  called  "  Baba  (Papa),  that  is,  grandfather."  Polycarp,  in  the  account 
of  his  martyrdom,  is  called  by  the  multitude  "  the  father  of  the  Christians." 
— Euseb.  iv.  15. 

'  Euseb.  V.  I. 

*  He  was  one  hundred  and  sixteen  years  of  age  in  A.D.  212  (Euseb.  vi.  1 1), 
so  that  in  A.D.  196,  or  about  the  time  of  the  Palestinian  Synod  at  which  he 
presided  (Euseb.  v.  23),  he  was  a  century  old. 

*  Etheridge's  "  Syrian  Churches,"  pp.  9,  10. 


464  THE   ANCIENT   CHURCH   OF  JERUSALEM. 

Simeon  of  Jerusalem  died  when  he  had  nearly  completed  the 
patriarchal  age  of  one  hundred  and  twenty.  As  an  individual 
might  become  a  member  of  the  presbytery  when  comparatively 
young,"  such  extraordinary  longevity  among  the  bishops  of 
the  second  century  can  be  best  explained  by  accepting  the 
testimony  of  Hilary, 

III.  The  number  of  bishops  found  within  a  short  period  in 
the  same  see  has  long  presented  a  difficulty  to  many  students 
of  ecclesiastical  history.  Thus,  at  Rome  in  the  first  forty 
years  of  the  second  century  there  were  five  or  six  bishops/ 
and  yet  only  one  of  them  suffered  martyrdom.  Within 
twelve  or  fifteen  years  after  the  death  of  Polycarp,  there  were 
several  bishops  in  Smyrna.'  But  the  Church  of  Jerusalem 
furnishes  the  most  wonderful  example  of  this  quick  succession 
of  episcopal  dignitaries.  Simeon,  one  of  the  relatives  of  our 
Lord,  is  said  to  have  become  the  presiding  pastor  after  the 
destruction  of  the  city  by  Titus,  and  was  martyred  about  the 
close  of  the  reign  of  Trajan,  or  in  A.D.  116;  and  yet,  according 
to  the  testimony  of  Eusebius,*  no  less  than  thirteen  bishops  in 
succession  occupied  his  place  before  the  end  of  the  year  A.D. 
134.  He  is  said  to  have  been  set  at  the  head  of  the  Church 
when  above  threescore  and  ten ; '  and  dying,  as  already 
stated,  at  the  extreme  age  of  one  hundred  and  twenty,  he  left 
behind  him  a  considerable  staff  of  very  aged  elders.     These 

'  See  I  Tim.  iv.  12. 

»  That  is,  Anacletus,  Evaristus,  Alexander,  Sixtus,  Telesphorus,  and  Hy- 
ginus ;  but  some  consider  Anacletus  the  same  as  Cletus,  who  is  supposed 
to  have  died  before  Clement. 

3  Euseb.  iv.  14.  Pearson  has  noticed  this  fact,  and  has  endeavored  to 
erect  upon  it  an  argument  against  the  current  chronology.  See  his  "  Minor 
Works,"  ii.  527.  The  names  of  the  three  bishops  of  Smyrna  next  after 
Polycarp  were  Thraseas,  Paparius,  and  Camerius.  At  least  two  of  these 
had  passed  away  a  considerable  time  before  the  Paschal  controversy.  See 
Greswell's  "  Dissertations,"  iv.,  part  ii.,  p.  600,  note. 

*  "  Hist.,"  iv.,  5. 

°  According  to  Eusebius  his  appointment  took  place  after  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  or  about  A.D.  71.  He  was,  therefore,  at  the  head  of  the 
Church  forty-five  years,  as  his  martyrdom  occurred  in  A.D.  116  According 
to  this  reckoning  he  was  in  his  seventy-fifth  year  when  made  president. 


THE   ANCIENT   CHURCH   OF  JERUSALEM.  465 

became  presidents  in  the  order  of  their  seniority  ;  and  as  they 
passed  rapidly  away,  we  may  thus  account  for  the  extraordi- 
nary number  of  the  early  chief  pastors  of  the  ancient  capital 
of  Palestine.' 

At  this  time,  or  about  A.D.  135,  the  original  Christian 
Church  of  Jerusalem  was  virtually  dissolved.  The  Jews  had 
grievously  provoked  Hadrian  by  their  revolt  under  the  im- 
postor Barchochebas ;  and  the  Emperor,  in  consequence,  re- 
solved to  exclude  the  entire  race  from  the  precincts  of  the 
holy  city.  The  faithful  Hebrews,  who  had  hitherto  worshipped 
there  under  the  ministry  of  Simeon  and  his  successors,  still 
observed  the  Mosaic  law,  and  were  consequently  treated  as 
Jews,  so  that  they  were  now  obliged  to  break  up  their  associ- 
ation, and  remove  to  other  districts.  A  Christian  Church, 
composed  chiefly  of  Gentile  converts,  was  soon  afterward  es- 
tablished in  the  same  place  ;  and  the  new  society  elected  an 
individual,  named  Marcus,  as  their  bishop,  or  presiding  elder. 
Marcus  was,  probably,  in  the  decline  of  life  when  he  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  community;  and  on  his  demise,^  as 
well  as  long  afterward,  the  old  rule  of  succession  was  observed. 
During  the  sixty  years  immediately  after  his  appointment, 
there  were  fifteen  bishops  at  Jerusalem ' — a  fact  which  indi- 
cates that,  on  the  occurrence  of  a  vacancy,  the  senior  elder 
still  continued  to  be  advanced  to  the  episcopal  chair.  This 
conclusion  is  remarkably  corroborated  by  the  circumstance 
that  Narcissus,  who  was  bishop  of  the  ancient  capital  of  Judea 
at  the  end  of  these  sixty  years,  was,  as  has  been  already  men 

'  This  explanation  of  the  matter  approximates  to  that  given  by  Tillemont. 
"  Cela  peut  estre  venu  de  ce  qu'on  les  choisissoit  entre  las  plus  agez  du 
Clerg-e  pour  les  faire  Evesques :  car  on  ne  voit  pas  qu'ils  ayent  este  plus 
persecutez  que  d'cLutres." — Mim.pour  servir  a  V Histoire  Eccl'esiastique, 
torn,  ii.,  part  ii.,  p.  40.  Eusebius  (iii.  32)  states  that  at  the  time  of  the  death 
of  Simeon  there  were  still  living  a  number  of  very  old  persons  who  were 
relatives  of  our  Lord.  Some  of  these  were,  probably,  elders  in  the  Church 
of  Jerusalem. 

*  He  is  said  in  the  "  Chronicon  "  of  Eusebius  to  have  presided  sixteen 
years. 

'  Euseb.,  v.  12. 

30 


466  THE   ANCIENT   CHURCH   OF   JERUSALEM. 

tioned,  upwards  of  fourscore  and  ten  when  he  obtained  his  ec- 
clesiastical promotion. 

The  episcopal  roll  of  Jerusalem  has  no  recorded  parallel  in 
the  annals  of  the  Christian  ministry,  for  there  were  no  less 
than  twenty-eight  bishops  in  the  holy  city  in  a  period  of  eighty 
years.  Even  the  Popes  have  never  followed  each  other  with 
such  rapidity.  The  Roman  Prelate,  when  elevated  to  St. 
Peter's  chair,  has  almost  invariably  been  far  advanced  in  years, 
and  the  instances  are  not  a  few  in  which  Pontiffs  have  fallen 
victims  to  poison  or  to  open  violence  ;  and  yet  their  history, 
even  in  the  worst  of  times,  exhibits  nothing  equal  to  the  fre- 
quency of  the  successions  indicated  by  this  ancient  episcopal 
registry.'  It  attests  that  there  were  more  bishops  in  Jerusa- 
lem in  the  second  century  than  there  have  been  Archbishops 
of  Canterbury  for  the  last  four  hundred  years  ! ''  Such  facts 
demonstrate  that  those  who  then  stood  at  the  head  of  the 
mother  Church  of  Christendom  reached  their  position  by 
means  of  some  order  of  succession  very  different  from  that 
which  is  now  established.  Hilary  furnishes  at  once  a  simple 
and  an  adequate  explanation.  The  senior  minister  was  the 
president,  or  bishop  ;  and  as,  when  placed  in  the  episcopal 
chair,  he  had  already  reached  old  age,  it  was  not  to  be  expected 
that  he  could  long  retain  a  situation  which  required  some  ex- 
ertion and  involved  much  anxiety.  Hence  the  startling 
amount  of  episcopal  mortality. 

As  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  was  virtually  founded  by  our 
Lord  himself,  it  could  lay  claim  to  a  higher  antiquity  than 
any  other  Christian  community  in  existence  ;  and  it  long  con- 
tinued to  be  regarded  by  the  disciples  all  over  the   Empire 

'  In  the  tenth  century,  the  darkest  and  most  revolting  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Popedom,  there  were  twenty-four  bishops  of  Rome.  Some  of 
these  reigned  only  a  few  days ;  at  least  one  of  them  was  strangled  :  several 
of  them  died  in  prison  ;  and  several  others  were  driven  from  the  sec  or  de- 
posed. There  have  been  only  twenty-four  Popes  in  the  last  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years. 

'  There  were  only  twenty-eight  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  between  1454 
and  1859. 


THE   ANCIENT   CHURCH   OF  JERUSALEM.  467 

with  peculiar  interest  and  veneration."  When  re-established 
about  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Hadrian,  it  v/as  properly  a  new 
society ;  but  it  still  enjoyed  the  prestige  of  ancient  associa- 
tions. Its  history  has,  therefore,  been  investigated  by  Euse- 
bius  with  special  care ;  he  tells  us  that  he  derived  a  portion  of 
his  information  from  its  own  archives;'  and,  though  he  enters 
into  details  respecting  very  few  of  the  early  Churches,  he 
notices  it  with  unusual  frequency,  and  gives  an  accredited  list 
of  the  names  of  its  successive  chief  pastors.'  About  this  period 
it  was  considered  a  model  which  other  Christian  societies  of 
less  note  should  imitate.  It  is,  therefore,  all  the  more  im- 
portant if  we  are  able  to  ascertain  its  constitution,  as  we  are 
thus  prepared  to  speak  with  a  measure  of  confidence  respect- 
ing the  form  of  ecclesiastical  government  which  prevailed 
throughout  the  second  century.  The  facts  already  stated, 
when  coupled  with  the  positive  affirmation  of  the  Roman 
Hilary,  place  the  solution  of  the  question,  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible, on  the  basis  of  demonstration ;  for,  if  we  reject  the  con- 
clusion that,  during  a  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  the 
Apostle  John,  the  senior  member  of  the  presbytery  of  Jeru- 
salem was  the  president  or  moderator,  we  in  vain  attempt  to 
explain,  upon  any  sound  statistical  principles,  how  so  many 
bishops  passed  away  in  succession  within  so  limited  periods, 
and  how,  at  several  points  along  the  line,  and  exactly  where 
they  were  to  be  expected,*  we  find  individuals  in  occupation 
of  the  chair  who  had  attained  to  extreme  longevity. 

IV.  The  statement  of  Hilary  illustrates  the  peculiar  cogency 
of  the  argumentation  employed  by  the  defenders  of  the  faith 
who  flourished  about  the  close  of  the  second  century.  This 
century  was  pre-eminently  the  age  of  heresies,  and  the  dis- 
seminators of  error  were  most  extravagant  and  unscrupulous 
in  their  assertions.  The  heresiarchs,  among  other  things, 
affirmed  that  the  inspired  heralds  of  the  Gospel  had  not  com- 

'  In  the  middle  of  the  third  century  we  find  Firmilian  appealing  to  it  as 
a  witness  against  the  Church  of  Rome.    Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixxv.,  Opera,  p.  303. 

'  "  Hist.,"  vi.  20.  ^  "  Hist."  iv.  5  ;  v.  12. 

"  Such  as,  after  the  death  of  the  aged  Simeon,  when  Justus,  at  the  age  of 
fivescore  and  ten,  was  advanced  to  the  presidential  chair. 


468  GNOSTIC   CREDENTIALS   APOCRYPHAL. 

mitted  their  whole  system  to  written  records  ;  that  they  had 
intrusted  certain  higher  revelations  only  to  select  or  perfect 
disciples  ;  and  that  the  doctrine  of  yEons,  which  they  so  assid- 
uously promulgated,  was  derived  from  this  hidden  treasure  of 
ecclesiastical  tradition.'  To  such  assertions  the  champions  of 
orthodoxy  were  prepared  to  furnish  a  triumphant  reply,  for 
they  could  show  that  the  Gnostic  system  was  inconsistent 
with  Scripture,  and  that  its  credentials,  said  to  be  derived 
from  tradition,  were  utterly  apocryphal.  They  appealed,  in 
proof  of  its  falsehood,  to  the  tradition  which  had  come  down 
to  themselves  from  the  apostles,  and  which  was  still  preserved 
in  the  Churches  "  through  the  successions  of  the  elders."  ^ 
They  could  farther  refer  to  those  who  stood  at  the  head  of 
their  respective  presbyteries  as  the  witnesses  most  competent 
to  give  evidence,  "  We  are  able,"  says  Irenaeus,  "  to  enumer- 
ate those  whom  the  apostles  established  as  bishops  in  the 
Churches,^  together  with  their  successors  down  to  our  own 
times,  who  neither  taught  any  such  doctrine  as  these  men  rave 
about,  nor  had  any  knowledge  of  it.  For  if  the  apostles  had 
been  acquainted  with  recondite  mysteries  which  they  were  in 
the  habit  of  teaching  to  the  perfect  disciples  apart  and  with- 
out the  knowledge  of  the  rest,  they  would  by  all  means  have 
communicated  them  to  those  to  whom  they  intrusted  the  care 
of  the  Church  itself,  since  they  wished  that  those  whom  they 
left  behind  them  as  their  successors,  and  to  whom  they  gave 
their  own  place  of  authority,  should  be  quite  perfect  and  irre- 
proachable in  all  things."  * 

Had  the  succession  to  the  episcopal  chair  been  regulated 
by  the  arrangements  of  modern  times,  there  would  have  been 

'  Irenaeus,  iii.  2.     Tertullian,  "  De  Prasscrip.  H-eret.,"  §  25. 

'  "  Ad  earn  iterum  traditionem,  quag  est  ab  apostolis,  qux  per  successt'ones 
presbyterortim  in  ecclesiis  custoditur,  provocamus  eos." — Irencrus,  iii.  2. 

^  Irenaeus  here  speaks  in  the  language  of  his  own  times,  and  refers  to  the 
presidents,  or  senior  ministers,  of  the  presbyteries.  In  like  manner  Hilary 
says  that  the  change  in  the  mode  of  appointing  the  president  of  the  pres- 
bytery was  made  by  the  decision  of  many  priests  (multorum  sacerdotinn 
judicioj,  though  the  title /r/f^/  was  not  given  to  a  Christian  minister  when 
the  alteration  was  originally  proposed. 

*  Irenaeus,  iii.  3. 


THE   BISHOPS   ATTEST   THE   TRADITIONS.  469 

little  weight  in  the  reasoning  of  Irenatus.  The  declaration  of 
the  bishop  respecting  the  tradition  of  the  Church  over  which 
he  happened  to  preside  could  have  possessed  no  special  value. 
But  it  was  otherwise  in  the  days  of  this  pastor  of  Lyons.  The 
bishop  was  generally  one  of  the  oldest  members  of  the  com- 
munity with  which  he  was  connected,  and  had  been  longer 
conversant  with  its  ecclesiastical  affairs  than  any  other  minis- 
ter. His  testimony  to  its  traditions  was,  therefore,  of  the 
highest  importance.  In  a  few  of  the  great  Churches,  as  we 
have  elsewhere  shown,'  the  senior  elder  no  longer  succeeded, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  to  the  episcopate  ;  but  age  continued  to 
be  universally  regarded  as  an  indispensable  qualification  for 
the  ofTfice,"  and,  when  Irenaeus  wrote,  the  law  of  seniority  was 
still  generally  maintained.  It  was,  therefore,  with  marked 
propriety  that  he  appealed  to  the  evidence  of  the  bishops  ;  as 
they,  from  their  position,  were  most  competent  to  expose  the 
falsehood  of  the  fables  of  Gnosticism. 

V.  It  is  well  knpwn  that,  in  some  of  the  most  ancient  coun- 
cils of  which  we  have  any  record,  the  senior  bishop  officiated 
as  moderator ; '  and,  long  after  age  had  ceased  to  determine 
the  succession  to  the  episcopal  chair,  the  recognition  of  its 
claims,  under  various  forms,  may  be  traced  in  ecclesiastical 
history.  In  Spain,  so  late  as  the  fourth  century,  the  senior 
chief  pastor  acted  as  president  when  the  bishops  and  presby- 
ters assembled  for  deliberation."  In  Africa  the  same  rule  was 
observed  until  the  Church  of  that  country  was  overwhelmed 
by  the  northern  barbarians.  In  Mauritania  and  Numidia, 
even  in  the  fifth  century,  the  senior  bishop  of  the  province, 
whoever  he  might  be,  was  acknowledged  as  metropolitan. ° 
In  the  usages  of  a  still  later  age  we  discover  vestiges  of  the 

'  Period  ii.,  sec.  i.,  chap.  iv. ;  and  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap.  vii. 

^  According  to  a  very-  ancient  canon,  no  one  under  fifty  years  of  age  could 
be  made  a  bishop.  See  Bunsen's  "  Hippolytus,"  iii.  56.  Even  in  the  time 
of  Cyprian  much  stress  was  still  laid  upon  age.  See  Cyprian,  Epist.  Iii.,  p. 
156. 

'  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap  xi.     See  also  Bingham,  i.  198. 

*  Miinter's  "  Primordia  Ecclesise  Africanae,"  p.  49.  See  also  Bingham 
vi.  377-379- 

^  Bingham,  i.  201. 


470  THE   BISHOP   GUIDED   BY   THE   ELDERS. 

ancient  regulation,  for  the  bishops  sat,  in  the  order  of  their 
seniority,  in  the  provincial  synods.'  Still  farther,  where  the 
bishop  of  the  chief  city  of  the  province  was  the  stated  metro- 
politan, the  ecclesiastical  law  still  retained  remembrances  of 
the  primitive  polity  ;  as,  when  this  dignitary  died,  the  senior 
bishop  of  the  district  performed  his  functions  until  a  successor 
was  regularly  appointed.' 

Though  the  senior  presbyter  presided  in  the  meetings  of 
his  brethren,  and  was  soon  known  by  the  name  of  bishop,  he 
originally  possessed  no  superior  authority.  He  held  his  place 
for  life,  but  as  he  was  sinking  under  the  weight  of  years  when 
he  succeeded  to  it,  he  could  not  venture  to  anticipate  an  ex- 
tended career  of  ofificial  distinction.  In  all  matters  relating 
either  to  discipline,  or  the  general  interests  of  the  brother- 
hood, he  was  expected  to  carry  out  the  decisions  of  the  elder- 
ship, so  that,  under  his  presidential  rule,  the  Church  was  still 
substantially  governed  by  "  the  common  council  of  the  pres- 
byters." 

The  allegation  that  presbyterial  government  existed  in  all 
its  integrity  toward  the  end  of  the  second  century  does  not 
rest  on  the  foundation  of  obscure  intimations  or  doubtful  in- 
ferences. It  can  be  established  by  direct  and  conclusive  tes- 
timony. Evidence  has  already  been  adduced  to  show  that  the 
senior  presbyter  of  Smyrna  continued  to  preside  until  the 
days  of  Irenaeus,  and  there  is  also  documentary  proof  that  he 
possessed  no  autocratical  authority.  The  supreme  power  was 
still  vested  in  the  council  of  the  elders.  This  point  is  attested 
by  Hippolytus,  who  was  then  just  entering  on  his  ecclesiastical 
career,  and  who,  in  one  of  his  works,  a  fragment  of  which  has 
been  preserved,  describes  the  manner  in  which  the  rulers  of 
the  Church  dealt  with  the  heretic  Noetus.  The  transaction 
occurred  about  A.D.  190.'     "  There  are  certain  others,"  says 

'  Binius,  i.  5.     Fourth  Council  of  Toledo,  canon  4. 

'  Bingham,  i.  204. 

'  Bunsen  dates  it  about  A.D.  200.  "Hippolytus  and  his  Age,"  p.  114. 
The  recently-discovered  treatise  of  Hippolytus  against  all  heresies  shows 
that  Noetus  appeared  much  earlier  than  most  modern  ecclesiastical  histo- 
rians have  reckoned. 


THE   CHURCH    GOVERNED   BY   THE   ELDERS.  4/1 

Hippolytus,  "  who  introduce  clandestinely  a  strange  doctrine, 
being  disciples  of  one  Noetus,  who  was  by  birth  a  Smyrnean, 
and  lived  not  long  ago.  This  man,  being  puffed  up,  was  led 
to  forget  himself,  being  elated  by  the  vain  fancy  of  a  strange 
spirit.  He  said  that  Christ  is  himself  the  Father,  and  that  the 
Father  himself  had  been  born,  and  had  suffered  and  died. 
....  When  the  blessed  presbyters  heard  these  things,  they 
summoned  him  and  examined  Jam  before  the  Church.  He,  how- 
ever, denied,  saying  at  first  that  such  were  not  his  sentiments. 
But  afterward,  when  he  had  intrigued  with  some,  and  had 
found  persons  to  join  him  in  his  error,  he  took  courage,  and 
at  length  resolved  to  stand  by  his  dogma.  The  blessed  presby- 
ters again  summoned  him,  and  administered  a  rebuke.  But  he 
withstood  them,  saying,  'Why,  what  evil  am  I  doing  in  glorify- 
ing Christ  ?  '  To  whom  the  presbyters  replied :  '  We  also  truly 
acknowledge  one  God  ;  we  acknowledge  Christ  ;  we  acknowl- 
edge that  the  Son  suffered  as  He  did  suffer,  and  that  He  died 
as  He  did  die,  and  that  He  rose  again  the  third  day,  and  that 
He  is  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  and  that  He  is  coming 
to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead ;  and  we  declare  those  things 
which  we  have  been  taught.'  Then  they  rebuked  him,  and  cast 
him  out  of  the  Church.'' ' 

About  the  time  to  which  these  words  refer  a  change  was 
made  in  the  ecclesiastical  constitution.  The  senior  minister 
ceased  to  preside  over  the  eldership ;  and  the  Church  was  no 
longer  governed,  as  heretofore,  by  the  "  blessed  presbyters." 
The  synods  which  were  held  all  over  the  Church  for  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Montanist  agitation,  and  in  connection  with 
the  Paschal  controversy,"  adopted  a  modified  episcopacy.  As 
parties  already   in  the  presidential  chair   were  permitted   to 

'  Routh,  "  Scriptorum  Ecclesiasticorum  Opuscula,"  torn,  i.,  pp.  49,  50 
Oxon,  1858.  This  extract  proves  that  the  Church  of  Smyrna  continued 
under  presbyterial  government  long  after  the  time  of  Polycarp,  Other 
Churches  about  this  time  were  in  the  same  position.     See  Eusebius,  v.  16. 

"  During  the  Paschal  controversy  the  Churches  of  Jerusalem,  Caesarea, 
and  others,  sided  with  Rome,  and  then  adopted  her  ecclesiastical  regimen. 
It  had  been  generally  adopted  in  Asia  Minor  during  the  Montanist  agita- 
tion. 


472  CHANGE   IN   THE   CHURCH   CONSTITUTION. 

hold  office  during  life,  this  change  was  not  accomplished  in- 
stantaneously ;  but  various  circumstances  concur  to  prove 
that  it  took  place  about  the  period  now  indicated.  The  fol- 
lowing reasons,  among  others,  may  be  adduced  in  support  of 
this  view  of  the  history  of  the  ecclesiastical  revolution. 

I.  The  Montanists,  toward  the  termination  of  the  second 
century^  created  much  confusion  by  their  extravagant  doc- 
trines and  their  claims  to  inspiration.  These  fanatics  were  in 
the  habit  of  disturbing  public  worship  by  uttering  their  pre- 
tended revelations,  and  as  they  were  often  countenanced  by 
individual  elders,  the  best  mode  of  protecting  the  Church 
from  their  annoyance  soon  became  a  question  of  grave  and 
pressing  difficulty.  Episcopacy,  as  shall  afterward  be  shown,' 
had  already  been  introduced  in  some  great  cities,  and  about 
this  time  the  Churches  generally  agreed  to  follow  the  influen- 
tial example."  It  was  thought  that  order  could  be  more 
effectually  preserved  were  a  single  individual  armed  with  in- 
dependent authority.  Thus,  the  system  of  government  by 
presbyters  was  gradually  and  silently  subverted. 

II.  It  is  well  known  that  the  close  of  the  second  century  is 
a  transition  period  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  A  new 
ecclesiastical  nomenclature  now  appeared;'  the  bishops  ac- 
quired increased  authority  ;  and,  early  in  the  third  century, 
they  were  chosen  in  all  the  chief  cities  by  popular  suffrage. 
The  alteration  mentioned  by  Hilary  was,  therefore,  the  im- 
mediate precursor  of  other  and  more  vital  changes. 

III.  Though  Eusebius  passes  over  in  suspicious  silence  the 
history  of  all  ecclesiastical  innovations,  his  account  of  the 
bishops  of  Jerusalem  suggests  that  the  law  abolishing  the 
claim  of  seniority  came  into  operation  at  the  close  of  the 
second  century.  He  classes  together  the  fifteen  chief  pastors 
who  followed  each  other  in  the  holy  city  immediately  after 
its  restoration  by  Hadrian,*  and  then  goes  on  to  give  a  list  of 

'  Chapter  vii.  of  this  section. 

'■'  That  the  Churches  in  various  places  were  still  governed  by  elders,  see 
Euseb.  V.  1 6. 

'  The  word  catholic  came  now  into  use.  The  minister  of  the  Word  was 
called  a  priest,  and  the  communion  table  an  altar. 

*  Euseb.  V.  12. 


EUSEBIUS   AND   THE   CHURCH   OF   C^ESAREA.  473 

others,  their  successors,  whose  pastorates  were  of  the  ordi- 
nary duration.  He  mentions  likewise  that  the  sixteenth 
bishop  was  chosen  by  election.'-  May  we  not  here  distinctly 
recognize  the  termination  of  one  system,  and  the  commence- 
ment of  another?  As  the  sixteenth  bishop  was  appointed 
about  A.D.  199,  the  law  had  been  then  only  recently  enacted. 

IV.  Eusebius  professes  to  trace  the  episcopal  succession 
from  the  days  of  the  apostles  in  Rome,  Alexandria,  Antioch, 
and  Jerusalem;  and  it  has  often  been  shown  that  the  accu- 
racy of  these  four  lists  is  extremely  problematical ;  but  it  is 
remarkable  that  in  other  Churches  the  episcopal  registry  can 
not  be  carried  up  higher  than  the  end  of  the  second  century. 
The  roll  of  the  bishops  of  Carthage  is  there  discontinued," 
and  the  episcopal  registry  of  Spain  there  also  abruptly  termi- 
nates. But  the  history  of  the  Church  of  Caesarea  affords  the 
most  extraordinary  specimen  of  this  defalcation.  Caesarea 
was  the  civil  metropolis  of  Palestine,  and  a  Christian  Church 
existed  in  it  from  the  days  of  Paul  and  Peter."  Its  bishop,  in 
the  early  part  of  the  fourth  century,  was  the  friend  of  the 
Emperor  Constantine  and  the  father  of  ecclesiastical  history. 
Eusebius  enjoyed  all  needful  facilities  for  investigating  the 
annals  of  his  own  Church  ;  and  yet,  strange  to  say,  he  com- 
mences its  episcopal  registry  about  the  close  of  the  second 
century  ! "  What  explanation  can  be  given  of  this  awkward 
circumstance?  Had  Eusebius  taken  no  notice  of  any  of  the 
bishops  of  his  own  see,  we  could  appreciate  his  modesty ;  but 
why  should  he  overlook  those  who  flourished  before  the  time 
of  Victor  of  Rome,  and  then  refer  to  their  successors  with 
such  marked  frequency  ?  ^  May  we  not  infer,  either  that  he 
deemed  it  inexpedient  to  proclaim  the  inconvenient  fact  that 
the  bishops  of  Caesarea  were  as  numerous  as  the  bishops  of 
Jerusalem  ;  or  that  he  found  it  impossible  to  recover  the 
names  of   a  multitude  of  old  men  who  had  only  a  nominal 

'  Euseb.  V.  10.  The  word  x'^'P"~"^''^i^'  here  employed  is  indicative  of  a 
popular  choice.     See  also  the  "  Chronicon  "  of  Eusebius. 

*  Miinter's  "  Primordia  Eccles.  Afric,"  pp.  25,  26. 

3  Acts  X.  I,  45-48  ;  xxi.  8.  ■*  "  Hist."  v.  22. 

*  "  Hist."  V.  23 ;  V.  25  ;  vi.  19 ;  vi.  23  ;  vi.  46 ;  vii.  14,  etc.,  etc. 


474  NO   SUDDEN   REVOLUTION. 

precedence  among  their  brethren,  and  who  had  passed  off  the 
stage,  one  after  another,  in  quick  succession  ? 

V.  A  statement  of  Eutychius,  who  was  patriarch  of  Alex- 
andria in  the  tenth  century,  and  who  has  left  behind  him  a 
history  of  his  see  from  the  days  of  the  apostles,  supplies  a  re- 
markable confirmation  of  the  fact  that,  toward  the  close  of 
the  second  century,  a  new  policy  was  inaugurated.  Accord- 
ing to  this  writer  there  was,  with  the  exception  of  the  occu- 
pant of  the  episcopal  chair  of  Alexandria,  "  no  bishop  in  the 
provinces  of  Egypt "  before  Demetrius.'  As  Demetrius  be- 
came bishop  of  Alexandria  about  A.D.  190,  Christianity  had 
now  made  extensive  progress  in  the  country  ; "  for  it  had  been 
planted  there  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  ;  but  mean- 
while, with  the  one  exception,  the  Churches  still  remained 
under  presbyterial  government.  Demetrius  was  a  prelate  of 
great  influence  and  energy ;  and,  during  his  long  episcopate 
of  forty-three  years,^  he  succeeded  in  spreading  all  over  the 
land  the  system  of  which  he  had  been  at  one  time  the  only 
representative. 

It  is  not,  indeed,  to  be  supposed  that  the  whole  Church, 
prompted  by  a  sudden  and  simultaneous  impulse,  agreed,  all 
at  once,  to  change  its  ecclesiastical  arrangements.  Another 
polity  at  first  made  its  appearance  in  places  of  commanding 
influence ;  and  its  advocates  most  assiduously  endeavored  to 
recommend  its  claims  by  appealing  to  the  fruits  of  experience. 
The  Church  of  Rome  took  the  lead  in  setting  up  a  mitigated 
form  of  prelacy ;  the  Churches  of  Antioch  and  Alexandria 
followed ;  and,  soon  afterward,  other  Christian  communities 
of  note  adopted  the  example.  That  this  subject  may  be  fairly 
understood,  a  few  chapters  must  now  be  employed  in  tracing 
the  rise  >and  progress  of  the  hierarchy. 

'  "  Annal."  p.  332.     See  also  Stanley's  "  Eastern  Church,"  p.  113,  note, 

'  See  Lardner's  Works,  viii.  99.    Edit.  London,  1838. 

*  Eusebius,  vi.  26.  Toward  the  close  of  his  episcopate  Demetrius  held 
several  synods  in  Alexandria,  at  which  a  considerable  number  of  bishops 
were  present. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   RISE   OF  THE   HIERARCHY   CONNECTED   WITH   THE 
SPREAD   OF   HERESIES. 

EUSEBIUS,  already  so  often  quoted,  and  known  so  widely 
as  the  author  of  the  earliest  Church  history,  flourished  in  the 
former  half  of  the  fourth  century.  This  distinguished  father 
was  a  spectator  of  the  most  wonderful  revolution  recorded 
in  the  annals  of  the  world.  He  had  seen  Christianity  pro- 
scribed, and  its  noblegt  champions  cut  down  by  a  brutal  mar- 
tyrdom ;  and  he  had  lived  to  see  a  convert  to  the  faith  seated 
on  the  throne  of  the  Caesars,  and  ministers  of  the  Church 
basking  in  the  sunshine  of  Imperial  bounty.  He  was  himself 
a  special  favorite  with  Constantine ;  as  bishop  of  Caesarea,  the 
chief  city  of  Palestine,  he  had  often  access  to  the  presence  of 
his  sovereign ;  and  in  a  work  still  extant,  professing  to  be  a 
Life  of  the  Emperor,  he  has  well-nigh  exhausted  the  language 
of  eulogy  in  his  attempts  to  magnify  the  virtues  of  his  illus- 
trious patron. 

Eusebius  may  have  been  an  accomplished  courtier,  but  cer- 
tainly he  is  net  entitled  to  the  praise  of  a  great  historian. 
The  publication  by  which  he  is  best  known  would  never  have 
acquired  such  celebrity,  had  it  not  been  the  most  ancient 
treatise  of  the  kind  in  existence.  Though  it  mentions  many 
of  the  ecclesiastical  transactions  of  the  second  and  third  cent- 
uries, and  supplies  a  large  amount  of  information  which  would 
have  otherwise  been  lost,  it  is  a  very  ill-arranged  and  unsatis- 
factory performance.  Its  author  does  not  occupy  a  high  po- 
sition either  as  a  philosophic  thinker,  a  judicious  observer,  or 
a  sound  theologian.  He  makes  no  attempt  to  point  out  the 
germs  of  error,  to  illustrate  the  rise  and  progress  of  ecclesi- 

(475) 


476  EUSEBIUS   AND   JEROME. 

astical  changes,  or  to  investigate  the  circumstances  which  led 
to  the  formation  of  the  hierarchy.  Even  the  announcement 
of  his  Preface,  that  his  purpose  is  "  to  record  the  successions 
of  the  holy  apostles,"  or  in  other  words,  to  exhibit  some  epis- 
copal genealogies,  proclaims  how  much  he  was  mistaken  as  to 
the  topics  which  should  have  been  noticed  most  prominently 
in  his  narrative.'  It  is  doubtful  whether  his  history  was  ex- 
pressly written,  either  for  the  illumination  of  his  own  age,  or 
for  the  instruction  of  posterity ;  and  its  appearance,  shortly 
after  the  public  recognition  of  Christianity  by  the  State,'  is 
fitted  to  generate  a  suspicion  that  it  was  intended  to  influence 
the  mind  of  Constantine,  and  to  recommend  the  episcopal 
order  to  the  consideration  of  the  great  proselyte. 

About  six  or  seven  years  after  the  publication  of  this  treat- 
ise, a  child  was  born  who  was  destined  to  attain  higher  dis- 
tinction, both  as  a  scholar  and  a  writer,  than  the  polished 
Eusebius.  This  was  Jerome — afterward"  a  presbyter  of  Rome, 
and  a  father  whose  productions  challenge  the  foremost  rank 
among  the  memorials  of  patristic  erudition.  Toward  the 
close  of  the  fourth  century  he  shone  the  brightest  literary  star 
in  the  Church,  and  even  the  proud  Pope  Damasus  condescend- 
ed to  cultivate  his  favor.  At  one  time  he  contemplated  the 
composition  of  a  Church  history ; '  and  we  have  reason  to  re- 
gret that  the  design  was  never  executed,  as  his  works  demon- 
strate that  he  was  in  possession  of  much  rare  and  important 
information  for  which  we  search  in  vain  in  the  pages  of  the 
bishop  of  Caesarea. 

No  ancient  writer  has  thrown  more  light  on  the  history 
of  the  hierarchy  than  Jerome.  His  remarks  upon  the  subject 
frequently  drop  incidentally  from  his  pen,  and  must  be  sought 
for  up  and  down  throughout  his  commentaries  and  epistles ; 

'  His  anxiety  to  exalt  the  hierarchy  is  strikingly  exhibited  in  his  address 
to  Paulinus  of  Tyre,  whom  he  describes  as  a  "  new  Aaron  or  Melchisedek, 
like  unto  the  Son  of  God."     Ecc.  Hist.  x.  4. 

'  The  "  Ecclesiastical  History  "  of  Eusebius  was  published  shortly  after 
Constantine  first  publicly  recognized  Christianity.  That  event  took  place  in 
A.D.  324,  and  with  the  same  year  the  history  terminates. 

'  "  Vita  Malchi,"  Opera,  iv.,  pp.  90,  91.     Edit.  Paris,  1706. 


Jerome's  testimony.  477 

but  he  speaks  as  an  individual  who  was  quite  familiar  with  the 
topics  he  introduces;  and,  whilst  all  his  statements  are  con- 
sistent, they  are  confirmed  and  illustrated  by  other  witnesses. 
As  a  presbyter,  he  was  jealous  of  the  honor  of  his  order ;  and, 
when  in  certain  moods,  he  is  very  well  disposed  to  remind  the 
bishops  that  their  superiority  to  himself  was  mere  matter  of 
human  arrangement.  One  of  his  observations  relative  to  the 
original  constitution  of  the  Christian  commonwealth  has  been 
often  quoted.  ''  Before  that,  by  the  prompting  of  the  devil, 
there  were  parties  in  religion,  and  it  was  said  among  the  peo- 
ple, I  am  of  Paul,  and  I  of  Apollos,  and  I  of  Cephas,  the 
Churches  were  governed  by  the  common  council  of  the  pres- 
byters. But,  after  that  each  one  began  to  reckon  those  tvhom 
he  baptized  as  belonging  to  himself  9in6.  not  to  Christ,  it  wa3 
DECREED  THROUGHOUT  THE  WHOLE  WORLD  that  one  elected 
from  the  presbyters  should  be  set  over  the  rest,  that  he  should 
have  the  care  of  the  whole  Church,  that  the  seeds  of  schisms 
might  be  destroyed."  ' 

Because  Jerome  in  this  place  happens  to  use  language  which 
occurs  in  the  First  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Corinthians,  we  are 
not  to  understand  him  as  identifying  the  date  of  that  letter 
with  the  origin  of  prelacy.  Such  a  conclusion  would  be  quite 
at  variance  with  the  tenor  of  this  passage.  The  words,  "  I  am 
of  Paul,  and  I  of  Apollos,  and  I  of  Cephas,"  '  are  used  by  him 
rhetorically  ;  he  was  accustomed  to  repeat  them  when  describ- 
ing schisms  or  contentions ;  and  he  has  employed  them  on 
one  memorable  occasion  in  relation  to  a  controversy  of  the 

'  "  Antequam  Diaboli  instinctu,  studia  in  religione  fierent,  et  diceretur  in 
populis,  Ego  sum  Pauli,  ego  Apollo,  ego  autem  Cephas,  communi  presbyter- 
orum  consilio  ecclesias  gubernabantur.  Postquam  vero  unusquisque  eos 
quos  baptizaverat  suos  putabat  esse,  non  Christi,  in  toto  orbe  decretum  est, 
ut  unus  de  presbyteris,  electus  superponeretur  caeteris,  ad  quem  omnis  ec- 
clesiae  cura  pertineret,  et  schismatum  semina  tollerentur." — Comjnent.  in 
Tztum.  The  language  here  used  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  that  em- 
ployed by  Lactantius  long  before,  when  treating  of  the  same  subject — 
"  Multae  hasreses  extiterunt,  et  instinctibus  dcemonum  populus  Dei  sczssus 
est." — Instit.  Divin.,  lib.  iv.,  c.  30. 

*  I  Cor.  i.  12. 


478  JEROME'S   TESTIMONY. 

fourth  century,'  The  divisions  among  the  Corinthians, 
noticed  by  Paul,  were  trivial  and  temporary ;  the  Church  at 
large  was  not  disturbed  by  them ;  but  Jerome  speaks  of  a  time 
when  the  whole  ecclesiastical  community  was  so  agitated  that 
it  was  threatened  with  dismemberment.  The  words  immedi- 
ately succeeding  those  which  we  have  quoted  clearly  show 
that  he  dated  the  origin  of  prelacy  after  the  days  of  the 
apostles.  "  Should  any  one  think  that  the  identification  of 
bishop  and  presbyter,  the  one  being  a  name  of  age  and  the 
other  of  office,  is  not  a  doctrine  of  Scripture,  but  our  own 
opinion,  let  him  refer  to  the  words  of  the  apostle  saying  to 
the  Philippians,  *  Paul  and  Timotheus,  the  servants  of  Jesus 
Christ,  to  all  the  saints  in  Christ  Jesus  which  are  at  Philippi, 
ivith  the  bishops  and  deacons,  Grace  to  you  and  peace,'  ^  and  so 
forth.  Philippi  is  one  city  of  Macedonia,  and  truly  in  one 
city,  there  can  not  be,  as  is  thought,  more  than  one  bishop ; 
but  because,  at  that  titnc,  they  called  the  same  parties  bishops 
and  presbyters,  therefore  he  speaks  of  bishops  as  of  presbyters 
without  making  distinction.  Still  this  may  seem  doubtful  to 
some  unless  confirmed  by  another  testimony.  In  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  it  is  written  '  that  when  the  apostle  came  to 
Miletus  he  '  sent  to  Ephesus  and  called  the  elders  of  the  same 
Church,'  to  whom,  then,  among  other  things,  he  said,  '  Take 
heed  to  yourselves  and  to  all  the  flock  over  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  has  made  you  bishops,*  to  feed  the  Church  of  the  Lord 

'  "  Hie  locus  vel  maxime  aclversum  Hasreticos  facit  qui  pc.cis  vinculo  dis- 
sipate atque  corrupto,  putant  se  tenere  Spiritus  unitatem  ;  quum  unitas 
Spiritus  in  pacis  vinculo  conservetur,  Quando  enim  non  idipsiim  omnes 
loquimur,  et  alius  dicit  Ego  sum  Paidi,  Ego  Apollo,  Ego  Ctpha:,  dividimus 
Spiritus  unitatem,  et  earn  in  partes  ac  membra  discerpimus."— -C(?w;«^«/, 
in  Ep/ies.,  lib.  ii.,  cap.  4.  Again  we  find  him  saying  :  "  Necnon  et  dissen- 
siones  opera  carnis  sunt,  quum  quis  nequaquam  perfectus,  eodem  sensu,  et 
eadem  sententia  dicit.  Ego  sum  Pattli,  et  ego  Apollo,  et  ego  Cephce  et  ego 
Christt.  .  ,  .  ,  Nonnumquam  evenit,  ut  et  in  expositionibus  Scripturarum 
oriatur  dissensio.  c  <fuihus  hcereses  quoque  qua  nunc  in  cartiis  opcre  ponun- 
tur,  cbuUiunt." — Continent,  in  Epist.  ad  Gahit.,  cap.  5. 

'  Philip,  i.  I,  2.  '  Acts  xx.  17,  28. 

*  Our  translators,  acting  under  instructions  from  James  I.,  here  render 
the  word  "  overseers." 


JEROME'S   TESTIMONY.  479 

which  He  has  purchased  with  His  own  blood.'  And  attend 
specially  to  this,  how,  calling  the  elders  of  the  one  city  Ephe- 
sus,  he  afterwards  addressed  the  same  as  bishops.  Whoever 
is  prepared  to  receive  that  Epistle  which  is  written  to  the 
Hebrews  under  the  name  of  Paul,'  there  also  the  care  of  the 
Church  is  divided  equally  among  more  than  one,  since  he 
writes  to  the  people,  '  Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  overyou, 
and  submit  yourselves,  for  they  are  they  who  watch  for  your 
souls  as  those  who  must  give  account,  that  they  may  not  do 
it  with  grief,  since  this  is  profitable  for  you.' '  And  Peter, 
who  received  his  name  from  the  firmness  of  his  faith,  in  his 
Epistle  speaks,  saying,  '  The  elders,  therefore,  who  are  among 
you,  I  exhort,  zvho  am  also  an  elder,  and  a  witness  of  the  suf- 
ferings of  Christ,  and  who  am  a  partaker  of  His  glory  which 
shall  be  revealed,  feed  that  flock  of  the  Lord  which  is  among 
you,  not  by  constraint,  but  willingly.' "  We  may  thus  show 
that  anciently  bishops  and  presbyters  were  the  same  ;  but,  by 
degrees,  THAT  THE  PLANTS  OF  DISSENSION  MIGHT  BE  ROOTED 
UP,  all  care  was  transferred  to  one.  As,  therefore,  the  presby- 
ters know  that,  in  accordance  with  the  custom  of  the  Church, 
they  are  subject  to  him  who  has  been  set  over  them,  so  the 
bishops  should  know  that  they  are  greater  than  the  presby- 
ters, rather  by  custom,  than  by  the  truth  of  an  arrangement  of 
the  Lord."  * 

1  The  Church  of  Rome,  of  which  Jerome  was  a  presbyter,  long  hesitated 
to  receive  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  Its  opposition  to  ritualism  was,  in 
the  third  and  fourth  centuries,  offensive  to  the  ecclesiastical  leaders  in  the 
Western  metropolis.  In  the  first  century  no  such  doubts  respecting  it 
existed  among  the  Roman  Christians.  See  Period  i.,  sec.  ii.,  chap,  i.,  p. 
162. 

*  Heb.  xiii.  17.  The  reading  of  Jerome,  here,  as  well  as  in  the  case  ot 
other  texts  quoted,  differs  from  that  of  our  authorized  version.  He  perhaps 
quoted  from  memory. 

=*  I  Pet.  V.  1,2. 

*  It  may  sutifice  to  give  in  the  original  only  the  conclusion  of  this  long 
quotation.  "  Paulatim  vero,  ut  dissensionum  plantaria  evellerentur,  ad 
unum  omnem,  solicitudinem  esse  delatam.  Sicut  ergo  presbyteri  sciunt  se 
ex  ecclesias  consuctudine  ei  qui  sibi  praspositus  fuerit  esse  subjectos  ;  ita 
episcopi  noverint  se  magis,  consuetudine  quam  dispositionis  dominicse  veri- 
tate  presbyteris  esse  majores." — Comment,  in  Titum. 


480  JEROME'S   TESTIMONY. 

Jerome  here  explains  himself  in  language  which  admits  of 
no  second  interpretation  ;  for  all  these  proofs,  adduced  to  show- 
that  the  Church  was  originally  under  presbyterial  government, 
are  of  a  later  date  than  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians. 
The  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  contains  internal  evidence  that 
it  was  dictated  during  Paul's  first  imprisonment  at  Rome ;  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  appeared  after  his  liberation  ;  and  the 
First  Epistle  of  Peter  was  written  in  the  old  age  of  the  apostle 
of  the  circumcision.  Nor  is  this  even  the  full  amount  of  his 
testimony  to  the  antiquity  of  the  presbyterian  polity.  On 
another  occasion,  after  mentioning  some  of  the  texts  which 
have  been  given,  he  goes  on  to  make  quotations  from  the 
Second  and  Third  Epistles  of  John — which  are  generally  dated 
toward  the  close  of  the  first  centurj' ' — and  he  declares  that 
prelacy  had  not  made  its  appearance  Avhen  these  letters  were 
written.  Having  produced  authorities  from  Paul  and  Peter, 
he  exclaims,  "  Do  the  testimonies  of  such  men  seem  small  to 
you  ?  Let  the  Evangelical  Trumpet,  the  Son  of  Thunder, 
whom  Jesus  loved  very  much,  who  drank  the  streams  of  doc- 
trine from  the  bosom  of  the  Saviour,  sound  in  your  ears,  '  The 
elder,  unto  the  elect  lady  and  her  children,  whom  I  love  in 
the  truth  ';  °  and,  in  another  epistle,  '  The  elder  to  the  very 
dear  Caius,  whom  I  love  in  the  truth.' '  But  what  was  done 
afterwards,  when  one  was  elected  who  was  set  over  the  rest, 
wdiS  for  a  cure  of  schism  ;  lest  every  one,  insisting  upon  his  own 
will,  should  rend  the  Church  of  God."  ' 

We  have  already  seen '  that  extant  documents,  written 
about  the  close  of  the  first  century,  and  the  middle  of  the 
second,  bear  similar  testimony  as  to  the  original  constitution 
of  the  Church.     The  "  Epistle  of  Clement  to  the  Corinthians  " 

'  Thus  Dr.  Burton  says  that  "  the  Epistles  of  St.  John  were  composed  in 
the  hitter  part  of  Doniitian's  reign." — Lectures,  i.  382.  Jerome  was  evi- 
dently of  this  opinion,  for  he  says  that,  in  his  First  Epistle,  he  refers  to 
Cerinthus  and  El)ion,  who  appeared  toward  the  close  of  the  first  century. 
"  Jam  tunc  haercticorum  semina  pullularent  Cerinthi,  Ebionis,  et  casterorum 
qui  negant  Christum  in  carne  venisse,  quos  et  ipse  in  Epistola  sua  Anti- 
christos  vocat." — Protcj^.  in  Comment,  super  Aratt/icrum. 

«  2  John  I.  '3  John  i.  *  Epist.  ci.  "  Ad  Evangelum." 

'  Period  ii.,  sec  iii.,  chap,  v.,  p.  455. 


HERESIES  THREATEN  TO  DIVIDE  THE  CHURCH.         48 1 

can  not  be  dated  earlier  than  the  termination  of  the  reign  of 
Domitian,  for  it  refers  to  a  recent  persecution/  it  describes  the 
community  to  which  it  is  addressed  as  "  most  ancient,"  it  de- 
clares that  others  occupied  the  places  of  those  who  had  been 
ordained  by  the  apostles,  and  it  states  that  this  second  gener- 
ation of  ministers  had  been  long  in  possession  of  their  ecclesi- 
astical charges.''  Candid  writers,  of  almost  all  parties,  ac- 
knowledge that  this  letter  distinctly  recognizes  the  existence 
of  government  by  presbyters.*  The  evidence  of  the  letter  of 
Polycarp*  is  not  less  explicit.  Jerome,  therefore,  did  not 
speak  without  authority  when  he  affirmed  that  prelacy  was 
established  after  the  days  of  the  apostles,  and  as  an  antidote 
against  schism. 

The  Apostolic  Church  was  comparatively  free  from  divis- 
ions ;  and,  whilst  the  inspired  heralds  of  the  Gospel  lived,  it 
could  not  be  said  that  "  there  were  parties  in  religion."  The 
heretics  were  never  able  to  organize  any  formidable  combina- 
tions ;  they  were  inconsiderable  in  point  of  numbers ;  and, 
though  not  wanting  in  activity,  those  to  whom  our  Lord  had 
personally  intrusted  the  publication  of  His  Word,  were  ready 

>  Sec.  I. 

'  The  reader  may  find  the  quotations  in  the  preceding  chapter,  pp.  456, 
457- 

'  Thus  Milner  says  that  "  so  far  as  one  may  judge  by  Clement's  Epistle," 
the  Church  of  Corinth,  when  the  letter  was  written,  had  Church  governors 
"  only  of  two  rajiks"  ■\^xt^h^\.^xs  and  deacons. — Hist,  of  the  Church,  z&vX. 
ii.,  chap.  I.     Bishop  Lightfoot  bears  the  same  testimony. 

*  As  the  letter  supplies  no  trace  whatever  of  the  existence  of  a  bishop  in 
the  Church  to  which  it  is  addressed,  Pearson  is  sadly  puzzled  by  its  testi- 
mony, and  gravely  advances  the  supposition  that  the  bishop  of  Philippi 
must  have  been  dead ''Nhun  Polycarp  wrote  !  "  Vindiciae  Ignatianag,"  pars 
ii.,  cap,  13.  Rothe  is  equally  perplexed  by  the  Epistle  of  Clement.  He 
says  that,  "  in  the  whole  Epistle  there  is  never  any  reference  to  a  bishop  of 
the  Corinthian  community,"  and  he  admits,  that,  when  the  letter  was 
written,  "the  Corinthian  community  had  no  bishop  at  all  ";  but,  to  support 
his  favorite  theory,  he  contends,  like  Pearson,  that  the  bishop  of  Corinth 
must  also  have  been  dead  !  "  Die  Anfange  der  christlichen  Kirche,"  pp. 
403,  404.  Strange  that  the  bishop  of  Corinth  and  the  bishop  of  Philippi 
both  were  dead  at  the  only  time  when  their  existence  was  of  any  historical 
value,  and  that  Jto  reference  is  made  either  to  them  or  their  successors  ! 
31 


482        HERESIES   THREATEN   TO   DIVIDE   THE   CHURCH. 

to  oppose  them,  so  that  all  their  efforts  were  effectually 
checked  or  defeated.  The  most-  ancient  writers  acknowledge 
that,  during  the  early  part  of  the  second  century,  the  same 
state  of  things  continued.  According  to  Hegesippus,  who 
outlived  Polycarp  fifteen  or  twenty  years,"  the  Church  con- 
tinued till  the  death  of  Simeon  of  Jerusalem,  in  A.D.  116,"  "  as 
a  pure  and  uncorrupted  virgin."  "  If  there  were  any  at  all," 
says  he,  "  who  attempted  to  pervert  the  right  standard  of  sav- 
ing doctrine,  they  were  yet  skulking  in  dark  retreats  ;  but 
when  the  sacred  company  of  the  apostles  had,  in  various  ways, 
finished  their  career,  AND  THE  GENERATION  OF  THOSE  WHO 
HAD  BEEN  PRIVILEGED  TO  HEAR  THEIR  INSPIRED  WISDOM 
HAD  PASSED  AWAY,  then  at  length  the  fraud  of  false  teachers 
produced  a  confederacy  of  impious  errors." '  The  date  of  the 
appearance  of  these  parties  is  also  established  by  the  testi- 
mony of  Celsus,  who  lived  in  the  time  of  the  Antonines,  and 
who  was  one  of  the  most  formidable  of  the  early  antagonists 
of  Christianity.  This  writer  informs  us  that,  though,  in  the 
beginning,  the  disciples  were  agreed  in  sentiment,  they  be- 
came, in  his  days,  when  "  spread  out  into  a  multitude,  divided 
and  distracted,  each  aiming  to  give  stability  to  his  own  fac- 
tion."* 

The  statements  of  Hegesippus  and  Celsus  are  substantiated 
by  a  host  of  additional  witnesses.  Justin  Martyr,"  Irenaeus,* 
Clemens  Alcxandrinus,'  Cyprian,^  and  others,  all  concur  in  rep- 

'  See  Euseb.  iv.,  c.  11.  *  Euseb.  iii.  32,  and  iv.  22. 

'  Euseb.  iii.  32.  Hegesippus,  as  quoted  by  Eusebius  (iv.  22),  speaks  of 
a  certain  Thebuthis,  who  began  secretly  to  corrupt  the  Christian  doctrine 
"  on  account  of  his  not  having  been  made  a  bishop,"  apparently  referring 
to  the  time  when  Simeon  was  appointed  to  preside  over  the  Church  of 
Jerusalem.  A  similar  story  is  told  of  Valentine.  But  the  statement  of 
Hegesippus  is  vague,  and  throughout  the  whole  of  the  first  century  the 
terms  bishop  and  presbyter  were  used  interchangeably. 

*  Origen,  "  Contra  Celsum,"  iii.  §  10,  Opera,  i.  453,  454. 
''  "  Dialogue  with  Trypho,"  Opera,  p.  253. 

" "  Contra  Haares."  i.  27,  §  i.  '  "  Strom."  p.  764. 

*  Epist.  Ixxiv.,  Opera,  p.  293.  The  ancient  writers  speak  of  all  the  early 
schismatics  as  heretics.  Thus  Novatian,  though  sound  in  the  faith,  is  so 
described.     Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixxvi.,  p.  315.    When,  therefore,  Jerome  speaks 


HERESIES   THREATEN   TO   DIVIDE   THE   CHURCH.       483 

resenting  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Hadrian,  or  the  beginning 
of  the  reign  of  Antoninus  Pius,  as  the  period  when  heresies 
burst  forth,  like  a  flood,  upon  the  Church.  The  extant  eccle- 
siastical writings  of  the  succeeding  century  are  occupied  chiefly 
with  their  refutation.  No  wonder  that  the  best  champions  of 
the  faith  were  embarrassed  and  alarmed.  They  had  hitherto 
been  accustomed  to  boast  that  Christianity  was  the  cement 
which  could  unite  all  mankind,  and  they  had  pointed  triumph- 
antly to  its  influence  in  bringing  together  the  Jew  and  the 
Gentile,  the  Greek  and  the  barbarian,  the  master  and  the  slave, 
the  learned  and  the  illiterate.  They  had  looked  forward  with 
high  expectation  to  the  days  of  its  complete  ascendency,  when, 
under  its  gentle  sway,  all  nations  would  exhibit  the  spectacle 
of  one  great  and  happy  brotherhood.  How,  then,  must  they 
have  been  chagrined  by  the  rise  and  spread  of  heresies !  They 
saw  the  Church  itself  converted  into,  a  great  battle-field,  and 
every  man's  hand  turned  against  his  fellow.  In  almost  all  the 
populous  cities  of  the  Empire,  as  if  on  a  concerted  signal, 
the  errorists  commenced  their  discussions.  The  Churches  of 
Lyons,'  of  Rome,  of  Corinth,  of  Athens,  of  Ephesus,  of  Anti- 
och,  and  of  Alexandria,  resounded  with  the  din  of  theological 
controversy.  Nor  were  the  heresiarchs  men  whom  their 
opponents  could  afford  to  despise.  In  point  of  genius  and  of 
literary  resources,  many  of  them  were  fully  equal  to  the  most 
accomplished  of  their  adversaries.  Their  zeal  was  unwearied, 
and  their  tact  most  perplexing.  Mixing  the  popular  elements 
of  the  current  philosophy  with  a  few  of  the  facts  and  doc 
trines  of  the  Gospel,  they  produced  a  compound  by  which 
many  were  deceived.  How  did  the  friends  of  the  Church  pro- 
of the  early  schismatics,  he  obviously  refers  to  the  heretics.  Irenaeus  says 
of  them,  "  Scindunt  et  separant  unitatem  ecclesise." — Lib.  iv.,  c.  xxvi.,  §  2. 
In  like  manner  Cyprian  represents  "heresies  and  schisms"  as  making  their 
appearance  after  the  apostolic  age,  and  as  inseparably  connected.  "  Cum 
haereses  et  schismata  postmodum  nata  sint,  dum  conventicula  sibi  diversa 
constituunt." — De  Unitate  Eccles.,  Opera,  p.  400. 

'  The  existence  of  heresy  in  Gaul  in  the  second  century  is  established  by 
the  fact  that  Irenaeus  spent  so  much  time  in  its  refutation.  Had  he  not 
been  annoyed  by  it,  he  never  would  have  thought  of  writing  his  treatise 
"  Contra  Haereses." 


484  "  PARITY   BREEDETH    COXFUSION." 

ceed  to  grapple  with  these  difficulties  ?  They,  no  doubt,  did 
their  utmost  to  meet  the  errorists  in  argument,  and  to  show 
that  their  theories  were  miserable  perversions  of  Christianity. 
But  they  did  not  confine  themselves  to  the  use  of  weapons 
drawn  from  their  own  heavenly  armory.  Not  a  few  presby- 
ters were  themselves  tainted  with  the  new  opinions ;  some  of 
them  were  even  ringleaders  of  the  heretics ; '  and,  in  an  evil 
hour,  the  dominant  party  resolved  to  change  the  constitution 
of  the  Church,  and  to  try  to  put  down  disturbance  by  means 
of  a  new  ecclesiastical  organization.  Believing,  with  many  in 
modern  times,  that  "  parity  breedeth  confusion,"  and  expect- 
ing, as  Jerome  has  expressed  it,  ''that  the  seeds  of  schisms 
might  be  destroyed,"  they  sought  to  invigorate  their  adminis- 
tration by  investing  the  presiding  elder  with  authority  over 
the  rest  of  his  brethren.  The  senior  presbyters,  the  last  sur- 
vivors of  a  better  age,  were  all  sound  in  the  faith  ;  and,  as  they 
were  still  at  the  head  of  the  Churches  in  the  great  cities,  it 
was  thought  that,  with  enlarged  prerogatives,  they  could  the 
better  confront  the  dangers  of  their  position.  The  principle 
that,  whoever  would  not  submit  to  the  bishop  must  be  cast 
out  of  the  Church,  was  accordingly  adopted ;  and  the  new 
system  was  expected  in  due  time  to  restore  peace  to  the  spir- 
itual commonwealth. 

At  the  same  period  arrangements  were  made  in  some  places 
for  changing  the  mode  of  advancement  to  the  presidential 
chair,  so  that,  in  no  case,  an  elder  suspected  of  error  could 
have  a  chance  of  promotion."  An  immense  majority  of  the 
presbyters  were  yet  orthodox;  and  by  being  permitted  to  de- 
part, as  often  as  they  pleased,  from  the  ancient  order  of  suc- 
cession, and  to  nominate  any  of  themselves  to  the  episcopate, 
they  could  always  secure  the  appointment  of  an  individual 
representing  their  own    sentiments.     In   some   of  the  larger 

'  Valentine  himself  seems  to  have  been  a  presbyter.  He  at  one  time  ex- 
pected to  be  made  bishop. 

'Such  is  the  statement  of  Hilary:  "Immutata  est  ratio,  prospiciente 
concilio,  ut  non  ordo  sed  meritum  crearet  episcopum,  multorum  sacerdo- 
tum  juchcio  constilutum,  ne  indignus  temere  usurparet,  et  esset  multis 
scandalum." — Cofitmcnt.  in  Eph.  iv. 


JEROME   NOT   INCONSISTENT.  485 

Churches,  where  their  number  was  considerable,  they  usually- 
selected  three  or  four  candidates;  and  then  permitted  the  lot 
to  make  the  ultimate  decision.'  But  the  ecclesiastical  revolu- 
tion could  not  stop  here.  Jealousy  quickly  appeared  among 
the  presbyters ;  and,  during  the  excitement  of  elections,  the 
more  popular  candidates  were  not  willing  to  limit  the  voting 
to  the  presbytery.  The  people  chose  their  presbyters  and 
deacons,  and  now  that  the  office  of  moderator  possessed  sub- 
stantial power,  and  differed  so  much  from  what  it  was  origi- 
nally, why  should  not  all  the  members  of  the  Church  be  allowed 
to  exercise  their  legitimate  influence?  Such  a  claim  could 
not  be  well  resisted.  Thus  it  was  that  the  bishops  were  ulti- 
mately chosen  by  popular  suffrage.' 

Some  contend  that  there  is  inconsistency  in  the  statements 
of  Jerome  relative  to  prelacy.  They  allege,  in  proof,  that 
whilst  he  describes  the  Church  as  governed,  till  the  rise  of 
"  parties  in  religion,"  by  the  common  council  of  the  presbyters, 
he  also  speaks  of  bishops  as  in  existence  from  the  days  of  the 
apostles.  "At  Alexandria,"  says  he,  "  from  Mark  the  Evangel- 
ist [by  whom  the  Church  there  was  founded],  to  Heraclas 
and  Dionysius  the  bishops  [who  flourished  in  the  third  cent- 
ury], the  presbyters  always  named  as  bishop  one  chosen  from 
among  themselves  and  placed  along  with  them  Mn  a  higher 
position."*  It  must  appear,  however,  on  due  consideration, 
that  here  there  is  no  inconsistency  whatever.  In  the  Epistle 
where  this  passage  occurs,  Jerome  is  asserting  the  ancient  dig- 
nity of  presbyters,  and  showing  that  they  originally  possessed 
prerogatives  of  which  they  had  more  recently  been  deprived. 
In  proof  of  this  he  refers  to  the  Church  of  Alexandria,  one 

'  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  i.,  chap,  iv.,  pp.  302,  303  ;  chap,  v.,  p.  317. 

*  At  an  early  period,  out  of  three  elders  nominated  by  the  presbytery,  one 
was  chosen  by  lot ;  subsequently,  out  of  three  elders  chosen  by  lot,  one  was 
elected  by  the  people.  See  pp.  302,  317.  We  find  something  analogous  in 
the  history  of  the  previous  hierarchy.  Thus,  in  ancient  Rome,  a  new  mem- 
ber was  originally  chosen  by  the  co-optation,  or  selection,  of  the  existing 
college  of  pontiffs  :  afterward,  the  college  nominated  two  candidates,  o! 
whom  the  people  chose  one.  See  "  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Ro- 
man Antiquities,"  art.  Pontifex. 

^  Collocatum.  *  Epist.  ci.  "  Ad.  Evangelum." 


486  JEROME   NOT   INCONSISTENT. 

of  the  greatest  sees  in  Christendom,  where  for  upwards  of  a 
century  and  a  half  after  the  days  of  the  EvangeHst  Mark,  the 
presbyters  appointed  their  spiritual  overseers,  and  performed 
all  the  ceremonies  connected  with  their  official  investiture.  But 
it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  meanwhile  these  overseers 
had  always  possessed  exactly  the  same  amount  of  authority. 
The  very  fact  mentioned  by  Jerome  suggests  a  quite  different 
inference,  as  it  proves  that  whilst  the  power  of  the  presbyters 
had  been  declining,  that  of  the  bishops  had  increased.  In 
the  second  century  the  presbyters  inaugurated  bishops ;  in 
the  days  of  Jerome  they  were  not  permitted  even  to  ordain 
presbyters. 

Jerome  says,  indeed,  that,  in  the  beginning,  the  Alexandrian 
presbyters  nominated  their  bishops,  but  we  are  not  to  conclude 
that  the  parties  chosen  were  always  known  distinctively  by  the 
designation  which  he  here  gives  to  them.  He  evidently  did 
not  intend  to  convey  such  an  impression,  as  in  the  same  Epis- 
tle he  demonstrates,  by  a  whole  series  of  texts  of  Scripture, 
that  the  titles  bishop  and  presbyter  were  used  interchangeably 
throughout  the  whole  of  the  first  century.  By  bishops  he 
understands  the  presidents  of  the  presbyteries,  or  the  officials 
who  filled  the  chairs  which  those  termed  bishops  subsequently 
occupied.  In  their  own  age  these  primitive  functionaries  were 
called  bishops  and  presbyters  indifferently;  but  they  partially 
represented  the  bishops  of  succeeding  times,  and  they  ap- 
peared in  the  episcopal  registries  as  links  of  the  apostolical 
succession,  so  that  Jerome  did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  depart 
from  the  current  nomenclature.  His  meaning  can  not  be  mis- 
taken by  any  one  who  attentively  marks  his  language,  for  he 
has  stated  immediately  before,  that  episcopal  authority  prop- 
erly commenced  when  the  Church  began  to  be  distracted  by 
the  spirit  of  sectarianism.' 

'  A  few  passages  of  the  letter  may  here  be  given  in  the  original.    "  Mani- 

festissime  comprobatur  cundem  esse  episcopum  atque  presbyterum 

Quod  autem  postea  unus  clectus  est,  qui  casteris  prjeponeretur,  in  schis- 
niatis  remedium  factum  est,  ne  unusquisque  ad  se  trahens  Christi  ecclesiam 
rumperet.  Nam  et  Alcxandrias  A  Marco  Evangelista  usque  ad  Heraclam 
et  Dionysinm  Ep'scopos,  presbyteri  semper  unum  ex  se  electum  in  excelsiori 
gradu  collocatum  episcopum  nominabant." — Epist.  ci.  ad  Evangelum. 


THE   PRIMITIVE   MODERATOR.  487 

In  this  passage,  however,  the  learned  father  bears  unequiv- 
ocal testimony  to  the  fact  that,  from  the  earliest  times,  the 
presbytery  had  an  official  head  or  president.  Such  an  arrange- 
ment was  known  in  the  days  of  the  apostles.  But  the  prim- 
itive moderator  was  very  different  from  the  bishop  of  the 
fourth  century.  He  was  the  representative  of  the  presby- 
tery— not  its  master.  Christ  had  said  to  the  disciples,  "  Who- 
soever will  be  great  among  you,  let  him  be  your  minister ; 
and  whosoever  will  be  chief  among  you,  let  him  be  your  serv- 
ant."'  Such  a  chief  was  at  the  head  of  the  ancient  presby- 
tery. Without  a  president  no  Church  court  could  transact 
business  ;  and  it  was  the  duty  of  the  chairman  to  preserve 
order,  to  bear  many  official  burdens,  to  ascertain  the  senti- 
ments of  his  brethren,  to  speak  in  their  name,  and  to  act 
in  accordance  with  the  dictates  of  their  collective  wisdom." 
The  bishop  of  after-times  rather  resembled  a  despotic  sover- 
eign in  the  midst  of  his  counsellors.  He  might  ask  the  advice 
of  the  presbyters,  and  condescend  to  defer  to  their  recom- 
mendation ;  but  he  also  negatived  their  united  resolutions, 
and  caused  the  refractory  quickly  to  feel  the  gravity  of  his 
displeasure. 

Though  Jerome  tells  us  how,  for  the  destruction  of  the 
seeds  of  schisms,  "  it  was  decreed  throughout  the  whole  WORLD 
that  one  elected  from  the  presbyters  should  be  set  over  the 
rest,"  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  decree  was  carried  out, 
cdl  at  once,  into  universal  operation.     General  councils  were 

'  Matt.  XX.  26,  27. 

^  The  view  here  taken  is  sustained  by  the  verdict  of  learned  and  candid 
Episcopalians.  "  When  elders  were  ordained  by  the  apostles  in  every 
Church,  through  every  city,  to  feed  the  flock  of  Christ,  whereof  the  Holy 
Ghost  had  made  them  overseers  :  they,  to  the  intent  that  they  might  the 
better  do  it  by  common  counsel  and  consent,  did  use  to  assemble  them- 
selves and  meet  together.  In  the  which  meetings,  for  the  more  orderly 
handling  and  concluding  of  things  pertaining  to  their  charge,  they  chose 
one  amongst  them  to  be  the  president  of  their  company  and  moderator  of 
their  actions." — The  Judgment  0/  Doctor  Rainoldes  touching  the  Crigitial 
of  Episcoi)acy  more  largely  confirmed  out  of  Antiquity,  by  James  Ussher, 
Archbishop  of  Armagh.  Ussher's  Works,  vii.,  p.  75.  See  also  Hallam's 
"Constitutional  History,"  ii,  180. 


488         *   PROGRESS  OF  THE  CHANGE. 

yet  unknown,  and  the  decree  was  sanctioned  at  diflferent  times 
and  by  distant  Church  judicatories.  Such  a  measure  was  first 
thought  of  shortly  before  the  middle  of  the  second  century, 
but  it  was  not  very  extensively  adopted  until  about  fifty  years 
afterward.  The  history  of  its  origin  must  now  be  more  mi- 
nutely investigated. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


PRELACY   BEGINS    IN   ROME. 


Any  attentive  reader  who  has  marked  the  chronology  of 
the  early  bishops  of  Rome,  as  given  by  Eusebius,'  may  have 
observed  that  the  pastorates  of  those  who  flourished  during 
the  first  forty  years  of  the  second  century  were  all  of  compar- 
atively short  duration.  Clement  is  commonly  reputed  to  have 
died  about  A.D.  lOo ; "  he  was  followed  by  Evaristus,  Alexan- 
der, Xystus,  and  Telesphorus ;  and  Hyginus,  who  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  Church  in  A.D.  139,  and  who  died  in  A.D. 
142,  was  the  fifth  in  succession.  Thus,  the  five  ministers  next 
in  order  after  Clement  occupied  the  post  of  president  only 
forty-two  years,  and,  with  the  exception  of  Hyginus,  whose 
official  career  was  very  brief,  each  held  the  situation  for  nearly 

'  Pearson  has  endeavored  to  destroy  the  credit  of  this  chronology,  and 
has  urged  against  it  the  authority  of  the  "  Annals  of  Eutychius  "  !  "  De 
Successione  prim.  Rom.  Episc."  He  had  before  labored  to  prove  that  the 
testimony  of  these  "Annals  "  is  worthless.     "  Vindic.  Ignat."  pars  i.,  c.  xi. 

"^  The  chronology  of 
Popes,"  stands  thus : 

Evaristus, 

Alexander, 

Sixtus  (or  Xystus), 

Telesphorus, 

Hyginus, 

Pius, 

Anicetus, 

Soter, 

Eleutherius, 

Victor,     . 


by  Bower  in  his 

"  Lives  of  the 

A.D. 

ICO  to  A.D. 

109. 

A.D, 

109  to  A.D. 

119. 

A.D. 

119  to  A.D. 

128. 

A.D. 

128  to  A.D. 

139. 

A.D. 

139  to  A.D. 

142. 

A.D. 

142  to  A.D. 

157. 

A.D. 

157  to  A.D. 

168. 

A.D. 

168  to  A.D. 

176. 

A.D. 

176  to  A.D. 

192. 

A.D. 

192  to  A.D. 

201. 

(489) 

490 


THE   TIME   OF   HYGINUS. 


an  equal  period.'  But,  on  the  death  of  Hyginus,  a  pastorate 
of  unusual  length  commences,  as  Pius,  by  whom  he  was  fol- 
lowed, continued  fifteen  years  in  ofifice — a  term  considerably 
more  extended  than  that  of  any  of  his  five  predecessors. 
Reckoning  from  the  date  of  the  advancement  of  Pius,  we  find 
also  a  decided  increase  in  the  average  length  of  the  life  of  the 
president  for  the  remainder  of  the  century;  as,  of  the  ten  in- 
dividuals in  all  who  were  at  the  head  of  the  Roman  Church 
during  its  revolution,  the  five  who  followed  next  after  Clement 
lived  only  forty-two  years,  whilst  their  five  successors  lived 
fifty-nine  yQzxs.  Thus,  there  is  at  least  some  ostensible  ground 
for  the  inquiry  whether  any  arrangement  was  made  in  the 
time  of  Hyginus,  which  may  account  for  these  statistics. 

The  origin  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  like'  the  origin  of  the 
city,  is  buried  in  obscurity ;  and  a  very  few  facts  constitute 
the  whole  amount  of  our  information  respecting  it  during  the 
first  century  of  its  existence.  About  the  time  of  Hyginus 
the  twilight  of  history  begins  to  dawn  upon  it.  Guided  by 
the  glimmerings  of  intelligence  thus  supplied,  we  shall  en- 
deavor to  illustrate  this  dark  passage  in  its  annals.  The  fol- 
lowing statements  contribute  somewhat  to  the  explanation  of 
transactions  which  have  hitherto  been  rarely  noticed  by 
modern  ecclesiastical  writers  : 

I.  A  change  in  the  organization  of  the  Church  about  the 
time  of  Hyginus,   accounts  for  the  increase  in  the  average 


The  following  is  the  chronology  of  Pearson 
Clement, 
Evaristus, 


Alexander, 
Xystus,    . 
Telesphorus, 
Hyginus, 
Pius, 
Anicetus, 
Soter, 

Eleutherius, 
Victor,     . 
—  Minor  Works,  ii.,  pp.  570,  571 


died  A.D.    83. 
A.D.    83  to  A.D.    91. 

A.D.  91  to  A.D.  lOI. 
A.D.  lOI  to  A.D.  III. 
A.D.  Ill  to  A.D.  122. 
A.D.  122  to  A.D.  126. 
A.D.  127  to  A.D.  142. 
A.D.  142  to  A.D.  161. 
A.D.  161  to  A.D.  170. 
A.D.  170  to  A.D.  185. 
A.D.   185  to  A.D.   197. 


PRELACY   BEGINS.  49I 

length  of  the  Hves  of  the  Roman  bishops.'  If  the  alteration, 
mentioned  by  Hilary,  was  now  made  in  the  mode  of  succes- 
sion to  the  presidential  chair,  such  a  result  followed.  Under 
the  new  regime,  the  recommendation  of  large  experience  had 
still  much  weight  in  the  choice  of  a  bishop,  but  he  frequently 
entered  on  his  duties  at  an  earlier  age,  and  thus  the  ordinary 
duration  of  his  official  career  was  considerably  extended.'' 

II.  The  time  of  Hyginus  exactly  answers  to  the  description 
of  the  period  when,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Jerome, 
prelacy  commenced.  The  heretics  then  exhibited  extraordi- 
nary zeal,  so  that  "  parties  in  religion  "  were  springing  up  all 
over  the  Empire.  The  Church  of  Rome  had  hitherto  escaped 
the  contagion  of  false  doctrine,'  but  now  errorists  from  all 
quarters  began  to  violate  its  purity  and  to  disturb  its  peace. 
Valentine,  Cerdo,  Marcion,  and  Marcus  appeared  about  this 
time  in  the  Western  capital."     Some  of  these  men  were  noted 

'  I  have  endeavored,  from  the  records  of  the  late  Synod  of  Ulster,  to 
estimate  the  medium  length  of  the  incumbency  of  a  moderator  for  life, 
being  the  senior  minister  of  a  presbytery  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  members, 
and  have  found  that  the  average  of  thirty-six  successions  amounted  to 
between  eight  and  nine  years.  In  these  presbyteries  young  ministers  gen- 
erally constituted  a  considerable  portion  of  the  members.  Had  they  all 
been  persons  advanced  in  life,  the  average  must  have  been  greatly  reduced. 
^  During  that  part  of  the  second  century  which  terminated  with  the  death 
of  Hyginus,  the  average  duration  of  the  life  of  a  Roman  bishop  very  little 
exceeded  eight  years ;  whereas,  during  the  remainder  of  the  century,  it 
amounted  to  nearly  twelve  years.  According  to  the  chronology  of  Pear- 
son the  disproportion  is  still  greater,  being  as  eight  years  dnd  a  fraction  to 
fourteen  years.  If  we  insert  the  episcopate  of  Anacletus,  it  will  be  nearly 
as  seven  to  fourteen. 

^  In  the  verses  erroneously  attributed  to  Tertullian,  the  Church  of  Rome 
is  represented  as  in  a  flourishing  state  when  visited  by  Cerdo. 
"  Advenit  Roman  Cerdo,  nova  vulnera  gestans 
Detectus,  quoniam  voces  et  verba  veneni 
Spargebat  furtim  ;  quapropter  ab  agmine  pulsus, 
Sacrilegum  genus  hoc  genuit  spirante  dracone. 
Constabat  pietate  vigens  Ecclesia  Romae 
Composita  a  Petro,  cujus  successor  et  ipse 
Jamque  loco  nono  cathedram  suscepit  Hyginus." 
*  Euseb,  IV.  II.     Irenasus  says  that  Valentine,  the  most  famous  and  for- 
midable of  the  Gnostic  teachers,  "  came  to  Rome  under  Hyginus,  was  in 


492  THE   TIME   OF   HYGINUS. 

for  their  genius  and  learning ;  and  they  created  no  common 
ferment.  They  were  assiduous  in  the  dissemination  of  their 
principles,  and  several  of  them  resorted  to  very  extraordinary 
and  unwarrantable  expedients  for  strengthening  their  respect- 
ive factions.  An  ancient  writer  represents  them  as  conduct- 
ing their  adherents  to  water,  and  as  baptizing  them  "  in  the 
name  of  the  Unknown  Father  of  the  universe  ;  in  the  Truth, 
the  mother  of  all  ;  and  in  Him  who  descended  on  Jesus." 
"  Others  again,"  says  the  same  authority,  "  repeated  Hebrew 
names  to  inspire  the  initiated  with  the  greater  awe."  '  These 
attempts  at  proselytism  were  not  unsuccessful.  Valentine,  in 
particular,  made  many  converts,  and  after  his  death,  when 
Irenaeus  wrote  a  refutation  of  his  heresy,  his  disciples  were 
still  numerous." 

The  account  given  by  Jerome  of  the  state  of  the  Christian 
interest  when  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  set  up  episcopacy, 
is  not  so  completely  supplemented  by  the  condition  of  the 
Church  at  any  other  period.  Never  certainly  did  the  brethren 
at  Rome  more  require  the  services  of  a  skilful  and  energetic 
leader,  than  when  the  Gnostic  chiefs  settled  in  the  great  me- 
tropolis. Never  could  it  be  said  with  so  much  truth  of  their 
community,  in  the  language  of  the  Latin  father,  that  "  every 
one  reckoned  those  whom  he  baptized  as  belonging  to  himself 
and  not  to  Christ";'  for,  as  we  have  just  seen,  some,  when 
baptizing  their  disciples,  used  even  new  forms  of  initiation. 
Never,  assuredly,  had  the  advocates  of  expediency  a  better 
opportunity  for  pleading  in  favor  of  a  decree  ordaining  that 
"  one  chosen  from  among  the  presbyters  should  be  put  over 
the  rest,  and  that  the  whole  care  of  the  Church  should  be 

his  prime  under  Pius,  and  lived  until  the  time  of  Anicetus." — Contra  Hceres., 
iii.,  4,  §  3.  Cyprian  speaks  of  "  the  more  grievous  pestilences  of  heresy 
breaking  forth  when  Marcion  the  Pontian  emerged  from  Pontus,  whose 
master  Cerdo  came  to  Rome  during  the  episcopate  of  Hyginus." — Epist. 
Ixxiv.  He  adds,  "  But  it  is  acknowledged  that  heresies  aftet  wards  became 
more  numerous  and  worse." — Epist.  Ixxiv.,  Opera,  pp.  293,  294. 

'  Euseb.  iv.  11.  See  also  a  fragment  attributed  to  Irenaeus  in  Stieren's 
edition,  i.  938. 

'  See  Mosheim,  "  Commentaries,"  by  Vidal,  ii.  266. 

•  Hieronymus,  "  Comment,  in  Titum." 


PRELACY   BEGINS.  493 

committed  to  him,  that  the  seeds  of  schism  should  be  taken 
away."  ' 

III.  The  testimony  of  Hilary,  who  was  contemporary  with 
Jerome,  exactly  accords  with  the  views  here  promulgated  as 
to  the  date  of  this  occurrence.  This  writer,  who  was  also  a 
minister  of  the  Roman  Church,  was  acquainted  with  a  tradi- 
tion that  a  change  had  taken  place  at  an  early  period  in  the 
mode  of  ecclesiastical  government.  His  evidence  is  all  the 
more  valuable  as  it  contains  internal  proofs  of  derivation  from 
an  independent  source ;  for,  whilst  it  corroborates  the  state- 
ment of  Jerome,  it  supplies  fresh  historical  details.  Accord- 
ing to  his  account,  "  after  that  churches  were  erected  in  all 
places  and  offices  established,  an  arrangement  was  adopted 
difTerent  from  that  which  prevailed  at  the  beginning." "  By 
"the  beginning"  he  understands  the  apostolic  age,  or  the 
time  when  the  New  Testament  was  written.'  He  then  goes 
on  to  say,  in  explanation,  that  it  was  found  necessary  to 
change  the  mode  of  appointing  the  chairman  of  the  presby- 
tery, and  that  he  was  now  promoted  to  the  office  by  election, 
and  not  by  seniority.*  Whilst  his  language  indicates  distinctly 
that  this  alteration  was  made  after  the  days  of  the  apostles,  it 
also  implies  a  date  not  later  than  the  second  century ;  for^ 
though  it  was  "  after  the  beginning,"  it  was  at  a  time  when 
churches  had  been  only  recently  "  erected  in  all  places,  and  of- 

'  Hieronymus,  "  Comment,  in  Titum." 

'^  "  Tamen  postquam  in  omnibus  locis  ecclesiae  sunt  constitutas,  et  ofificia 
ordinata,  aliter  composita  res  est,  quam  coeperat." — Commefit.  in  Epist.  ad 
Ephes.,  cap.  4. 

'  "  Ideo  non  per  omnia  conveniunt  scripta  apostoli  ordinationi,  quae  nunc 
in  ecclesia  est ;  quia  haec  inter  ipsa  primordia  sunt  scripta." — Ibid. 

"  "  Ut  non  ord'o,  sed  meritum  crearet  episcopum." — Ibid.  Hilary  appears 
to  have  believed  with  Jerome  that  the  Church  was  originally  governed  "  by 
the  common  council  of  the  presbyters,"  but  that,  meanwhile,  with  their 
sanction,  or  under  peculiar  circumstances,  deacons  might  preach  and  even 
laymen  baptize.  Such,  too,  was  the  opinion  of  Tertullian.  See  Kaye's 
"Tertullian,"  pp.  226,  448.  Hilary,  however,  maintained  that  this  arrange- 
ment was  soon  abrogated.  "  Coepit  alio  ordine  et  providentia  gubernari 
ecclesia ;  quia  si  omnes  eadem  possent,  irrationabile  esset,  et  vulgaris  res 
et  vilissima  videretur." 


494  THE   TIME   OF   HYGINUS. 

fices  established."  The  period  of  the  spread  of  heresies  at 
Rome,  at  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  Antoninus  Pius, 
and  when  Hyginus  closed  his  career,  answers  these  conditions. 

IV.  As  Rome  was  the  headquarters  of  heathenism,  it  was 
also  the  place  where  the  divisions  of  the  Church  proved  most 
disastrous.  There,  the  worship  of  the  State  was  celebrated  in 
all  its  magnificence ;  there,  the  Emperor,  the  Pontifex  Max- 
imus  of  the  gods,  surrounded  by  a  splendid  hierarchy  of 
priests  and  augurs,  presided  at  the  great  festivals ;  and  there, 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  prompted  by  interest  or  by 
prejudice,  were  prepared  to  struggle  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  ancient  superstition.  Already,  the  Church  of  Rome  had 
often  sustained  the  violence  of  persecution ;  but,  notwith- 
standing the  bloody  trials  it  had  undergone,  it  had  continued 
steadily  to  gain  strength  ;  and  a  sagacious  student  of  the  signs 
of  the  times  might  even  now  have  looked  forward  to  the  day 
when  Christianity  and  paganism,  on  nearly  equal  terms,  would 
be  contending  for  mastery  in  the  chief  city  of  the  Empire. 
But  the  proceedings  of  the  heretics  were  calculated  to  dissi- 
pate all  the  visions  of  ecclesiastical  ascendency.  If  the  Ro- 
man Christians  were  split  up  into  fragments  by  sectarianism, 
the  Church,  in  one  of  its  great  centres  of  influence,  was  incal- 
culably injured.  And  yet,  how  could  the  crisis  be  averted? 
How  could  heresy  be  most  effectually  discountenanced  ?  How 
could  the  unity  of  the  Church  be  best  maintained.?  In  times 
of  peril  the  Romans  had  formerly  been  wont  to  set  up  a  Dic- 
tator, and  to  commit  the  whole  power  of  the  commonwealth 
to  one  trusty  and  vigorous  ruler.  During  the  latter  days  of 
the  Republic,  the  State  had  been  almost  torn  to  pieces  by  con- 
tending factions ;  and  now,  under  the  sway  of  the  Emperors^ . 
it  enjoyed  comparative  repose.  It  occurred  to  the  brethren 
at  Rome  to  try  the  effects  of  a  similar  change  in  the  ecclesias- 
tical constitution.  By  committing  the  government  of  the 
Church,  in  this  emergency,  almost  entirely  into  the  hands  of 
one  able  and  resolute  administrator,  they  hoped  to  contend 
successfully  against  the  dangers  by  which  they  were  encom- 
passed. 

V.  A  recent  calamity  of  a  different  character  was  calculated 


PRELACY   BEGINS.  495 

to  abate  the  jealousy  which  such  a  proposition  would  have 
otherwise  awakened.  Telesphorus,  the  immediate  predeces 
sor  of  Hyginus,  suffered  a  violent  death.'  Telesphorus  is  the 
first  bishop  of  Rome  whose  title  to  martyrdom  can  be  fairly 
established ;  and  not  one  of  his  successors  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  second  century  forfeited  his  life  for  his  relig- 
ion. The  death  of  the  presiding  pastor,  as  a  victim  to  the  in- 
tolerance of  heathenism,  threw  the  whole  Church  into  a  state 
of  confusion  and  perplexity ;  and  when  Hyginus  was  called 
upon  to  occupy  the  vacant  chair,  well  might  he  enter  upon  its 
duties  with  deep  anxiety.  The  appearance  of  heresy  multi- 
plied the  difficulties  of  his  office.  It  could  now  be  asked 
with  no  small  amount  of  plausibility — Is  the  presiding  presby- 
ter to  have  no  special  privileges?  If  his  mind  is  to  be  har- 
assed continually  by  errorists,  and  if  his  life  is  to  be  imperilled 
in  the  service  of  the  Church,  should  he  not  be  distinguished 
above  his  brethren  ?  Without  some  such  encouragement  will 
not  the  elders  at  length  refuse  to  accept  a  situation  which  en- 
tails so  much  responsibility,  and  yet  possesses  so  little  influ- 
ence? Such  questions,  urged  under  such  circumstances,  must 
have  been  felt  to  be  perplexing. 

VI.  As  there  was  constant  intercourse  between  the  seat  of 
government  and  all  the  provinces  of  the  Empire,  the  Church 
of  the  metropolis  soon  contrived  to  avail  itself  of  the  facilities 
of  its  position  for  keeping  up  a  correspondence  with  the 
Churches  of  other  countries.*  In  due  time  the  results  be. 
came  apparent.  Every  event  of  interest  which  occurred  in 
any  quarter  of  the  Christian  world  was  known  speedily  in  the 
capital ;  no  important  religious  movement  could  succeed  with, 
out  the  concurrence  and  co-operation  of  the  brethren  at 
Rome;  and  its  ministers  gradually  acquired  such  influence 
that  they  were  able,  to  some  extent,  to  control  the  public 
opinion  of  the  whole  ecclesiastical  community.  On  this  occa- 
sion they,  perhaps,  did  not  find  it  difficult  to  persuade  their 
co-religionists  to  enter  into  their  views.  In  Antioch,  in  Alex- 
andria, in  Ephesus,  and  elsewhere,  as  well  as  in  Italy,  the  her- 

'  Ireneeus,  iii.  3,  §  3.  ^  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  i.,  chap,  iv.,  pp.  304-305. 


496  THE    CHAIR   LONG  VACANT   ABOUT   A.D.  I42. 

etics  had  been  displaying  the  most  mischievous  activity; '  and 
it  is  not  improbable  that  the  remedy  now  proposed  by  the 
ruling  spirits  in  the  great  city  had  already  suggested  itself  to 
others.  During  the  summer  months  vessels  were  trading  to 
Rome  from  all  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean,  so  that  Chris- 
tian deputies,  without  much  inconvenience,  could  repair  to 
headquarters,  and,  in  concert  with  the  metropolitan  presby- 
ters, make  arrangements  for  united  action.  If  the  champions 
of  orthodoxy  were  nearly  as  zealous  as  the  errorists,'  they  trav- 
elled much  during  these  days  of  excitement.  But  had  not 
the  idea  of  increasing  the  power  of  the  presiding  pastor  orig- 
inated in  Rome,  or  had  it  not  been  supported  by  the  weighty 
sanction  of  the  Church  of  the  capital,  it  would  not  have  been 
so  readily  and  so  extensively  adopted  by  the  Churches  in 
other  parts  of  the  Empire. 

VII.  Though  we  know  little  of  the  early  history  of  the 
Roman  see,  we  have  evidence  that,  on  the  death  of  Hy- 
ginus,  there  was  a  vacancy  of  unusual  length  ;  and  circum- 
stances, which  meanwhile  took  place,  argue  strongly  in  favor 
of  the  conclusion  that,  at  this  time,  the  change  in  the  ecclesi- 
astical constitution  indicated  by 'Jerome  actually  occurred. 
According  to  some,  the  interval  between  the  death  of  Hyginus 
and  the  commencement  of  the  episcopate  of  Pius,  his  im- 
mediate successor,  was  of  several  years'  duration ; '  but  it  is 
clear  that  the  chair  was  vacant  for  a  twelvemonth.*  How  are 
we  to  account  for  this  interregnum  ?  We  know  that  subse- 
quently, in  the  times  of  Decius  and  of  Diocletian,  there  were 
vacancies  of  quite  as  long  continuance ;  but  then  the  Church 
was  in  the  agonies  of  martyrdom,  and  the  Roman  Christians 
were  prevented  by  the  strong  arm  of  imperial  tyranny  from 
filling  up  the  bishopric.     Now  no  such  calamity  threatened ; 

'  Irenaeus,  i.  24,  §  i  ;  i.  28,  §  i. 

'  Thus,  Valentine  travelled  from  Alexandria  to  Rome,  and  after\vard  set- 
tled in  Cyprus.  Marcion,  who  was  originally  connected  with  Pontus,  and 
who  taught  in  Rome,  also  travelled  in  Egypt  and  the  East. 

^  "  Blondclli  Apologia  pro  Sententia  Hieronymi,"  p.  18.  Blondcl  makes 
the  vacancy  of  four  years'  continuance. 

*  Pearson's  "  Minor  Works,"  ii.  p.  571. 


VALENTINE   A   CANDIDATE   FOR   THE   CHAIR.  49/ 

and  the  commotions  created  by  the  heretics  supply  evidence 
that  persecution  was  asleep.  This  long  vacancy  must  be  other- 
wise explained.  If  Hyginus  had  been  invested  with  addi- 
tional authority,  and  if  he  soon  afterward  died,  his  removal 
was  the  signal  for  the  renewal  of  agitation.  Questions  which, 
perhaps,  had  not  hitherto  Ijeen  mooted,  now  arose.  How  was 
the  vacant  place  to  be  supplied?  Was  the  senior  presbyter, 
no  matter  how  ill  adapted  for  the  crisis,  to  be  allowed  to  take 
quiet  possession?  If  other  influential  Churches  required  to 
be  consulted,  some  time  would  thus  be  occupied  ;  so  that  de- 
lay in  the  appointment  was  unavoidable. 

During  this  interval  the  spirit  of  faction  was  busily  at  work. 
The  heretic  Marcion  sought  admission  into  the  Roman  pres- 
bytery ; '  and  Valentine,  who  was  now  recognized  as  a  presby- 
ter,^ no  doubt  supported  the  application.  The  presbytery  it- 
self was  divided,  and  even  Valentine  had  hopes  of  obtaining 
the  presidential  chair!  His  pretensions,  at  this  period  of  his 
career,  were  sufificiently  imposing.  Though  he  may  have  been 
suspected  of  unsoundness  in  the  faith,  he  had  not  yet  com- 
mitted himself  by  any  public  avowal  of  his  errors ;  and  as  a 
man  of  literary  accomplishment,  address,  energy,  and  elo- 
quence, he  had  few  compeers.  No  wonder,  with  so  many  dis- 
turbing elements  in  operation,  that  the  see  remained  long 
vacant. 

Some  would  willingly  deny  that  Valentine  was  a  candidate 
for  the  episcopal  chair  of  Rome,  but  the  fact  can  be  estab- 
lished by  evidence  the  most  direct  and  conclusive.  Tertul- 
lian,  who  had  lived  in  the  imperial  city,  and  who  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  its  Church  history,  expressly  states  that  "  Val- 
entine hoped  for  the  bishopric,  because  he  excelled  in  genius 
and  eloquence,  but  indignant  that  another,  who  had  the  superior 
claim  of  a  confessor,  obtained  the  place,  he  deserted  the 
Catholic  Church."  '   The  Carthaginian  father  does  not,  indeed, 

'  Epiphanius,  "  Haeres."  42,  Opera,  torn,  i.,  p.  302. 

"  See  Burton's  "  Lectures,"  ii.  98. 

^  "  Speraverat  episcopatum  Valentinus,  quia  et  ingenio  poterat  et  eloquio 
Sed  alium  ex  martyrii  prserogativa  loci  potitum  indignatus  de  ecclesia  au- 
thenticos  reguls;  abrupit." — Adv.  Valent.,  c.  iv. 
32 


'498  THE   LETTERS   OF  PIUS   OF   ROME. 

here  name  the  see  to  which  the  heresiarch  unsuccessfully- 
aspired,  but  his  words  shut  us  up  to  the  conclusion  that  he 
alluded  to  Rome.'  And  we  can  thus  discover  at  least  one 
reason  why  the  history  of  this  vacancy  has  been  involved  in 
so  much  mystery.  In  a  few  more  generations  the  whole 
Church  felt  compromised  by  any  reflection  cast  on  the  ortho- 
doxy of  the  great  Western  bishopric.''  How  sadly  must  many 
have  been  scandalized  had  it  been  proclaimed  abroad  that  the 
arch-heretic  Valentine  once  hoped  to  occupy  the  chair  of  St. 
Peter ! 

VIII.  Two  letters  still  extant,  and  supposed  to  have  been 
addressed  by  Pius,  the  immediate  successor  of  Hyginus,  to 
Justus,  bishop  of  Vienne  in  Gaul,  supply  corroborative  evi- 
dence that  the  presiding  pastor  had  recently  obtained  addi- 
tional authority.  Though  the  genuineness  of  these  documents 
has  been  questioned,  the  objections  urged  against  them  have 
not  been  sufficient  to  prevent  critics  and  antiquarians  of  all 
parties  from  appealing  to  their  testimony.'  It  is  not  improb- 
able that  they  are  Latin  translations  from  Greek  originals, 
and  we  may  thus  account  for  a  few  words  found  in  them  which 
were  introduced  at  a  later  period.*   Their  tone  and  spirit,  which 

'  Tertulllan  states  that  Valentine  at  first  believed  the  doctrine  of  the 
Catholics  zn  the  Church  of  Rotne.  "  De  Praescrip."  c.  30.  When  he  came 
to  the  city  he  was  admitted  to  communion.  He  set  up  a  distinct  sect  after 
Pius  was  made  bishop.  It  is  impossible,  therefore,  to  avoid  the  inference 
that  he  was  mortified  because  he  was  not  himself  chosen.  Tertullian  here 
confounds  Eleutherius  and  Hyginus. 

^  The  unwillingness  even  of  Tertullian  to  say  anything  to  its  prejudice 
has  been  often  remarked.  See  Neander  on  a  passage  in  the  tract  "De  Virg. 
Veland,"  in  his  "  Antignostikos,"  appended  to  his  "  History  of  the  Planting 
and  Training  of  the  Christian  Church,"  in  Bohn's  edition,  ii.  420.  See  also 
the  same,  p.  429.     See  also  "  De  Pudicitia,"  c.  i. 

'  They  are  quoted  as  genuine  by  Binius,  Baronius,  Bona,  Thomdike, 
Bingham,  Salamasius,  and  many  others.  Bishop  Beveridge  speaks  of  one 
of  them  as  of  undoubted  authority.  "  In  indttbitata  illius  epistola." — Antwt. 
in  Can.  Ap.  See  Cotelerius,  i.  459.  Pearson  rejects  them  as  spurious, 
whilst  contending  so  valiantly  for  the  Ignatian  Epistles. 

*  Such  as  Missa  and  Titulus.  But  that  Pastor  really  did  erect  a  place  in 
which  the  Christians  assembled  (or  worship,  as  stated  in  one  of  these  let- 
ters, is  not  improbable.     See  Routh's  "  Reliquite,"  i.  430.     Pearson  objects 


THE   LETTERS   OF   PIUS   OF   ROME.  499 

are  entirely  different  from  the  spurious  productions  ascribed 
to  the  same  age,  plead  strongly  in  their  favor  as  trustworthy 
witnesses.  The  writer  makes  no  lofty  pretensions  as  a  Roman 
bishop ;  he  speaks  of  himself  simply  as  at  the  head  of  an 
humble  presbytery ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  divine  the  motive 
which  could  have  tempted  an  impostor  to  fabricate  such  un- 
pretending compositions.  Though  given  as  the  veritable 
Epistles  of  Pius  by  the  highest  literary  authorities  of  Rome, 
they  are  certainly  ill  calculated  to  prop  up  the  cause  of  the 
Papacy.  If  their  claims  are  admitted,  they  rank  among  the 
earliest  authentic  records  in  which  the  distinction  between  the 
terms  bishop  and  presbyter  is  unequivocally  recognized ;  and 
it  is  obvious  that  alterations  in  the  ecclesiastical  constitution, 
made  under  Hyginus,  must  have  prepared  the  way  for  such  a 
change  in  the  terminology.  In  one  of  these  Epistles  Pius 
gives  the  following  piece  of  advice  to  his  correspondent : 
"  Let  the  elders  and  deacons  respect  you,  not  as  a  greater, 
but  as  the  servant  of  Christ."  '  This  letter  purports  to  have 
been  written  when  its  author  anticipated  the  approach  of 
death ;  and  the  individual  to  whom  it  is  directed  was  just 
placed  in  the  episcopal  chair.  Had  Pius  believed  that  Justus 
had  a  divine  right  to  rule  over  the  presbyters,  why  tender  such 
an  admonition?  A  hundred  years  afterward,  Cyprian  of  Car- 
thage, when  addressing  a  young  prelate,  would  certainly  have 
expressed  himself  very  differently.  He  would,  probably,  have 
complained  of  the  presumption  of  the  presbyters,  have 
boasted  of  the  majesty  of  the  episcopate,  and  have  exhorted 
the  new  bishop  to  remember  his  apostolical  dignity.    But,  in  the 

to  them  on  the  ground  that  Eleutherius  is  spoken  of  in  one  of  them  as  a 
presbyter,  whereas  Hegesippus  describes  him  as  deacon  afterward  in  the 
time  of  Anicetus.  See  Euseb.  iv.  22.  But  it  is- not  clear  that  Hegesippus 
here  uses  the  word  deacon  in  its  strictly  technical  sense.  He  may  mean  by 
it  minister  or  manager,  and  may  design  to  indicate  that  Eleutherius  was 
the  mosX  prominent  officiat personage  under  Anicetus,  occupying  the  posi- 
tion afterward  held  by  the  archdeacon.  It  is  also  not  improbable  that, 
among  the  officials  of  the  Roman  Church  in  the  times  of  Pius  and  Anicetus 
there  were  two  persons  of  the  name  of  Eleutherius. 

'  "  Presbyteri  et  Diaconi,  non  ut  majorem,  sed  ut  ministrum  Christi  te 
observent." 


500  THE    LETTERS   OF   PIUS   OF   ROME. 

middle  of  the  second  century,  such  language  must  have  been 
strangely  out  of  place.  Pius  is  writing  to  an  individual,  just 
entering  on  an  office  lately  endowed  with  additional  privileges, 
who  could  not  yet  afford  to  make  an  arbitrary  use  of  his  new 
authority.  He,  therefore,  counsels  him  to  moderation,  and 
cautions  him  against  presuming  on  his  power.  "  Beware," 
says  he,  "  in  your  intercourse  with  your  presbyters  and  dea- 
cons, of  insisting  too  much  on  the  duty  of  obedience.  Let 
them  feel  that  your  prerogative  is  not  exercised  capriciously, 
but  for  good  and  necessary  purposes.  Let  the  elders  and 
deacons  regard  you,  not  so  much  in  the  light  of  a  superior,  as 
the  servant  of  Christ." 

In  another  portion  of  this  letter  a  piece  of  intelligence  is 
communicated,  which,  as  coming  from  Pius,  possesses  peculiar 
interest.  When  the  law  was  enacted  altering  the  mode  of 
succession  to  the  presidency,  it  may  be  that  the  proceeding 
was  deemed  somewhat  ungracious  toward  those  aged  presby- 
ters who  soon  expected,  as  a  matter  of  right,  to  obtain  posses- 
sion of  the  seat  of  the  moderator.  The  death  of  Telesphorus, 
the  predecessor  of  Hyginus,  as  a  martyr,  was,  indeed,  calculated 
to  abate  an  anxiety  to  secure  the  chair;  for  the  whole  Church 
was  thus  painfully  reminded  that  it  was  a  post  of  danger,  as 
well  as  of  dignity;  but  still,  when,  on  the  occurrence  of  the 
first  vacancy,  Pius  was  promoted  over  the  heads  of  older  men, 
he  may,  on  this  ground,  have  felt,  to  some  extent,  embarrassed 
by  his  elevation.  We  infer,  however,  from  this  letter,  that 
the  few  senior  presbyters,  with  whose  advancement  the  late 
arrangement  interfered,  did  not  long  survive  this  crisis  in  the 
history  of  the  Church  ;  for  the  bishop  of  Rome  here  informs 
his  Gallic  brother  of  their  demise.  "Those  presbyters,"  says 
he,  "  who  were  taught  by  the  apostles,'  and  who  have  survived 
to  our  own  days,  with  whom  we  have  united  in  dispensing  the 
word  of  faith,  have  now,  in  obedience  to  the  call  of  the  Lord, 
gone  to  their  eternal  rest.""     Such  a  notice  of  the  decease  of 

'  That,  in  the  time  of  Marcion,  there  were  Roman  presbyters  who  had 
been  disciples  of  the  apostles,  see  Tillemont,  "  Mcmoires,"  torn,  ii.,  sec.  par. 
p.  215.     Edit.,  Brussels,  1695, 

'  "Presbyteri  iili  qui  ab  apostolis  educati  usque  ad  nos  pervenerunt,  cum 


NEW   USE   OF   THE   WORD   BISHOP,  50I 

these  venerable  colleagues  is  precisely  what  might  have  been 
expected,  under  the  circumstances,  in  a  letter  from  Pius  to 
Justus. 

IX.  The  use  of  the  word  bishop,  as  denoting  the  president 
of  the  presbytery,  marks  an  era  in  the  history  of  ecclesiastical 
polity.  New  terms  are  not  coined  without  necessity;  neither, 
without  an  adequate  cause,  is  a  new  meaning  annexed  to  an 
ancient  designation.  When  the  name  bishop  was  first  used  as 
descriptive  of  the  chief  pastor,  there  was  some  special  reason  for 
such  an  application  of  the  title ;  and  the  rise  of  the  hierarchy 
furnishes  the  only  satisfactory  explanation.'  If,  then,  we  can 
ascertain  when  this  new  nomenclature  first  made  its  appear- 
ance, we  can  also  fix  the  date  of  the  origin  of  prelacy.  Though 
the  documentary  proof  available  for  the  illustration  of  this 
subject  is  comparatively  scanty,  it  is  sufficient  for  our  purpose  ; 
and  it  clearly  shows  that  the  presiding  elder  did  not  begin  to 
be  known  by  the  title  of  bishop  until  about  the  middle  of  the 
second  century.  Polycarp,  who  wrote  at  that  time,"  still  uses 
the  terminology  employed  by  the  apostles.  Justin  Martyr, 
the  earliest  father  who  has  left  behind  him  memorials  amount- 
ing in  extent  to  anything  like  a  volume,  often  speaks  of  the 
chief  minister  of  the  Church,  and  designates    him,  not  the 

quibus  simul  verbum  fidei  partiti  sumus,  a  Domino  vocati  in  cubilibus  aeter- 
nis  clausi  tenentur." 

'  Pearson  ("  Vindicice,"  par.  ii.,  c.  13)  has  appealed  to  a  letter  from  the 
Emperor  Hadrian  to  the  Consul  Servianus  as  a  proof  that  the  terms  bishop 
and  presdy/cr  had  distinctive  meanings  as  early  as  A.D.  134.  The  passage 
is  as  follows  :  "  Illi  qui  Serapim  colunt,  Christiani  sunt ;  et  devoti  sunt  Serapi, 
qui  se  Christi  episcopos  dicunt.     Nemo  illic  Archisynagogus  Judseorum, 

nemo  Samarites,  nemo  Christianorum  Presbyter Ipse  ille  Patriarcha, 

quum  yEgyptum  venerit,  ab  aliis  Serapidem  adorare,  ab  aliis  cogitur  Chris- 
tum." Such  a  testimony  only  shows  that  Pearson  was  sadly  in  want  of  evi- 
dence. This  same  letter  has,  in  fact,  often  been  adduced  to  prove  that  the 
terms  bishop  and  presbyter  were  still  used  interchangeably,  and  such  is 
certainly  the  more  legitimate  inference.  See  Lardner's  remarks  on  this 
letter.  Works,  vol.  vii.,  p.  99.     Edit.,  London,  1838. 

^  "  The  Philippians  appear  to  have  continued  to  live  under  the  same  aris- 
tocratic constitution  (of  venerable  elders)  al>out  the  middle  of  the  second 
century,  when  Polycarp  addressed  his  Epistle  to  them," — Bunsen's  Hippo- 
lytus,  i.,  369.     Bishop  Lightfoot  concurs  in  this  view. 


502  NEW   USE   OF  THE   WORD    BISHOP. 

bishop,  but  the  president.''  His  phraseology  is  all  the  more 
important  as  he  lived  for  some  time  in  Rome,'  and  adopted 
the  style  of  expression  current  in  the  great  city.  But  another 
writer,  who  was  his  contemporary,  and  who  also  resided  in  the 
capital,  incidentally  supplies  evidence  that  the  new  title  was 
then  just  coming  into  use.  The  author  of  the  book  called 
"  Pastor,"  when  referring  to  those  who  were  at  the  head  of  the 
presbyteries,  describes  them  as  "  THE  BISHOPS,  that  is,  THE 
PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  CHURCHES." '  The  reason  why  he  here 
deems  it  necessary  to  explain  what  he  means  by  bishops  can 
not  well  be  mistaken.  The  name,  in  its  new  application,  was 
not  yet  familiar  to  the  public  ear ;  and  required  to  be  inter- 
preted by  the  more  ancient  designation.  Could  we  tell  when 
this  work  of  Hermas  was  written,  we  could  also,  perhaps,  name 
the  very  year  when  the  president  of  the  eldership  was  first 
called  bishop.^  It  is  now  pretty  generally  admitted  that  the 
author  was  no  other  than  the  brother  of  Pius  of  Rome,"  the 
immediate  successor  of  Hyginus,  so  that  he  wrote  exactly  at 
the  time  when,  as  appears  from  other  evidences,  the  transition 
from  presbytery  to  prelacy  actually  occurred.  His  words  fur- 
nish a  very  strong,  but  an  undesigned,  attestation  to  the 
novelty  of  the  episcopal  regimen. 

X.  But  the  most  pointed,  and  certainly  the  most  remark- 
able testimony  to  the  fact  that  a  change  took  place  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Roman  Church  in  the  time  of  Hyginus  is  fur- 
nished from  a  quarter  where  such  a  voucher  was  to  have  been, 
least  of  all,  anticipated.  We  allude  to  the  Pontifical  Book. 
This  work  has  been  ascribed  to  Damasus,  the  well-known 
bishop  of  the  metropolis  of  the  West,  who  flourished  in  the 

'  TT/^owrwf ,  Opera,  pp.  97-99.  "  Euseb.  iv.  11. 

'  "  Episcopi,  id  est,  prcesides  ecclcst'arwn." — Lib.  iii.,  simil.  ix.,  c.  27. 
There  is  a  parallel  passage  to  this  in  Tertullian,  "  De  Baptismo,"  c.  17, 
"Summus  sacenlos,  qui  est  episcoptts."  This  is,  perhaps,  the  first  instance 
on  record  in  which  a  bishop  is  called  the  chief  i)riest.  Hence  the  necessity 
of  the  interpretation  "  qui  est  episcopus."  Pastor  considered  an  explana- 
tion of  the  title  "episcopus"  equally  necessary. 

*  Neander  supposes  this  work  to  have  been  written  a.d.  156.  "General 
History,"  ii.  443. 

'  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  ii.,  chap,  i.,  p.  334. 


TESTIMONY   OF   THE   PONTIFICAL   BOOK.  503 

fourth  century,  but  much  of  it  is  unquestionably  of  later  origin  •, 
and  though  many  of  its  statements  are  apocryphal,  it  is  often 
quoted  as  a  document  of  weight  by  the  most  distinguished 
writers  of  the  Romish  communion.'  Its  account  of  the  early 
popes  is  little  better  than  a  mass  of  fables;  but  some  of  its 
details  are  exaggerations,  or  rather  caricatures,  of  an  authen- 
tic tradition ;  and  a  few  grains  of  truth  may  be  discovered 
here  and  there  in  a  heap  of  fictions  and  anachronisms.  This 
part  of  the  production  contains  one  brief  sentence  which  has 
greatly  puzzled  the  commentators,'  as  it  is  strangely  out  of  keep- 
ing with  the  general  spirit  of  the  narrative,  and  as  it  contra- 
dicts, rather  awkwardly,  the  pretensions  of  the  popedom.  Ac- 
cording to  this  testimony,  Hyginus  "ARRANGED  THE  CLERGY 
AND  DISTRIBUTED  THE  GRADATIONS."  '  Peter  himself  is 
described  by  Romanists  as  organizing  the  Church;  but  here, 
one  of  his  alleged  successors,  upward  of  seventy  years  after 
his  death,  is  set  forth  as  the  real  framer  of  the  hierarchy.* 
The  facts  already  adduced  prove  that  this  obscure  announce- 
ment rests  upon  a  sound  historical  foundation,  and  that  it 
vaguely  indicates  the  alterations  introduced  into  the  ecclesi- 
astical constitution.     If  Hilary  and  Jerome  be  employed  as  its 

'  So  high  indeed  is  its  authority  that  many  facts  taken  from  it  are  recorded 
in  the  "  Breviary."  Even  Bunsen  appeals  to  it.   See  "  Analecta  Antenicasna," 

iii.  52,  53- 

■^  Binius  makes  the  following  abortive  attempt  to  explain  the  statement : 
"  Quod  hierarchicus  catholicae  ecclesis  ordo,  quo  presbyteri  episcopis,  dia- 
coni  presbytens,  populus  presbyteris  et  diaconis  subditus  est,  ab  Hygino 
compositus  esse  hie  dicitur,  non  aliter  intellis^i potest,  quam  quod  Hyginus 
hierarchice  ecclesiasticag  jam  tempore  apostolorum  a  Christo  Domino  con- 
stitutce,  et  a  Sanctis  Patribus  ipso  antiquioribus  comprobatas,  quaedam  dun- 
taxat  injuria  temporum  et  scriptorum  deperdita  addiderit,  vel  eadem  quae 
Divino  jure  instituta,  et  a  patribus  comprobata  sunt,  hac  constitutione  sua 
illustraverit." — Concilia,  i.  65,  66, 

^  "  Hie  clerum  composuit,  et  distribuit  gradus." — Binii  Concil.  i.  65. 
Baronius,  ad  annum,  158, 

■*  When  referring  to  this  statement  Baronius  says  :  "  Porro  quod  ad  gradus 
cujusque  ordinis  in  Ecclesia,  quo  ecclesiastica  habetur  composita  hierarchia, 
jam  a  temporibus  apostolorum  h^c  facta  esse,  Ignatio  atictore  et  aliis,  tome 
primo  Annalium  demonstravimus  ;  verum  aliqiia  antiques  formce  ab  Hygi- 
vio  fuisse  addita,  vel  eadem  illustrata,  a:quum  est  cestimare." 


504    .  TESTIMONY   OF   THE   PONTIFICAL   BOOK. 

interpreters,  the  truth  may  be  easily  eliminated.  At  a  synod 
held  in  Rome,  Hyginus  brought  under  the  notice  of  the  meet- 
ing the  confusion  and  scandal  created  by  the  movements  of 
the  errorists  ;  and,  with  a  view  to  correct  these  disorders,  the 
council  agreed  to  invest  the  moderator  of  each  presbytery 
with  increased  authority,  to  give  him  a  discretionary  power  as 
the  general  superintendent  of  the  Church,  and  to  require  the 
other  elders,  as  well  as  the  deacons,  to  act  under  his  advice 
and  direction.  A  new  functionary  was  thus  established,  and, 
under  the  old  name  of  bishop  or  overseer,  a  third  order  was 
virtually  added  to  the  ecclesiastical  brotherhood.  Hence  Hy- 
ginus, who  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  deliberations  of  the 
convocation,  is  said  to  have  "  arranged  the  clergy  and  dis- 
tributed the  gradations."  . 

The  change  in  the  ecclesiastical  polity  which  now  occurred 
led  to  results  equally  extensive  and  permanent,  and  yet  it  has 
been  but  indistinctly  noticed  by  the  writers  of  antiquity.  Nor 
is  it  strange  that  we  have  no  contemporary  account  of  this  ec- 
clesiastical revolution.  The  history  of  other  occurrences  and 
innovations  is  buried  in  profound  obscurity.  We  can  only 
ascertain  by  inference  what  were  the  reasons  which  led  to  the 
general  adoption  of  the  sign  of  the  cross,  to  the  use  of  the 
chrism  in  baptism,  to  standing  at  the  Lord's  Supper,  to  the 
institution  of  lectors,  acolyths,  and  sub-deacons,  and  to  the 
establishment  of  metropolitans.  Though  the  Paschal  contro- 
versy agitated  almost  the  whole  Church  toward  the  close  of 
the  second  century,  and  though  Tertullian  wrote  immediately 
afterward,  he  does  not  once  mention  it  in  any  of  his  numer- 
ous extant  publications.'  Owing  to  peculiar  circumstances 
the  rise  of  prelacy  can  be  more  minutely  traced  than  that  of 
any  other  of  the  alterations  introduced  during  the  first  three 
centuries.  At  the  time  the  change  was  considered  not  very 
important ;  but,  as  the  remaining  literary  memorials  of  the 
period  are  few  and  scanty,  the  reception  which  it  experienced 
can  now  only  be  conjectured.  The  alteration  was  adopted  as 
an  antidote  against  the  growth  of  heresy,  and  thus  originat- 

'  See  Kaye's  "Tertullian,"  p.  414. 


TRACES   OF   THE   RISE   OF   PRELACY.  505 

ing  in  circumstances  of  a  humiliating  character,  there  was 
little  disposition,  on  the  part  of  ecclesiastical  writers,  to  dwell 
upon  its  details.  Soon  afterward  the  pride  of  churchmen  be- 
gan to  be  developed  ;  and  it  was  then  found  convenient  to 
forget  that  all  things  originally  did  not  accord  with  existing 
arrangements,  and  that  the  hierarchy  itself  was  but  a  human 
contrivance.  Prelacy  soon  advanced  apace,  and  every  bishop 
had  an  interest  in  exalting  "  his  order,"  It  is  only  wonderful 
that  so  much  truth  has  oozed  out  from  witnesses  so  preju- 
diced, and  that  the  Pontifical  Book  contains  so  decisive  a  de- 
position. And  the  momentous  consequences  of  this  appar- 
ently slight  infringement  on  the  primitive  polity  can  not  be 
overlooked.  That  very  Church  which,  in  its  attempts  to  sup- 
press heresy,  first  departed  from  divine  arrangements,  was 
soon  involved  in  doctrinal  error,  and  eventually  became  the 
great  foster-mother  of  superstition  and  idolatry. 

It  may  at  first  seem  extraordinary  that  the  ecclesiastical 
transformation  was  so  rapidly  accomplished  ;  but,  when  the 
circumstances  are  more  attentively  considered,  this  view  of 
the  subject  presents  no  real  difficulty.  At  the  outset,  the 
principle  sanctioned  produced  very  little  alteration  on  the 
general  aspect  of  the  spiritual  commonwealth.  At  this  period 
a  Church,  in  most  places,  consisted  of  a  single  congregation ; 
and  as  one  elder  laboring  in  the  word  and  doctrine  was  gen- 
erally deemed  sufficient  to  minister  to  the  flock,  only  a  slight 
modification  took  place  in  the  constitution  of  such  a  society. 
The  preaching  elder,  who  was  entitled  by  authority  of  Script- 
ure '  to  take  precedence  of  elders  who  only  ruled,  had  always 
been  permitted  to  act  as  moderator  ;  but,  on  the  ground  of 
the  new  arrangement,  the  pastor  began  to  assume  an  authority 
over  his  session  which  he  had  never  hitherto  ventured  to  ex- 
ercise. In  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Antoninus  Pius  the 
number  of  towns  with  several  Christian  congregations  was  but 
small  ;  and  if  five  or  six  leading  cities  approved  of  the  system 
now  inaugurated  at  Rome,  its  general  adoption  was  thus  se- 
cured.    The  statements  of  Jerome  and  Hilary  attest  that  the 

'  I  Tim.  V.  17. 


506  THE   CHANGE   EASILY   ACCOMPLISHED. 

matter  was  submitted  to  a  synod  ;  and  the  remarkable  inter- 
regnum which  followed  the  death  of  Hyginus  can  be  best  ac- 
counted for  on  the  hypothesis  that  meanwhile  the  ministers 
of  the  great  metropolis  found  it  necessary  to  consult  the 
rulers  of  other  influential  and  distant  Churches.  If  the  meas- 
ure had  the  sanction  of  these  foreign  brethren,  they  were  pre- 
pared to  resort  to  it  at  home  on  the  demise  of  their  presiding 
presbyter.  Heretics  were  disturbing  the  Church  all  over  the 
Empire, '  so  that  the  same  arguments  could  be  everywhere 
used  in  favor  of  the  new  polity.  There  was  a  vacancy  in  the 
presidential  chair  at  Antioch  about  the  time  of  the  death  of 
Hyginus  ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  next  year,  a  similar  va- 
cancy occurred  at  Alexandria.'  If  the  three  most  important 
Churches  then  in  Christendom,  with  the  sanction  of  a  very 
few  others  of  less  note,  almost  simultaneously  adopted  the 
new  arrangement,  the  question  was  practically  settled.  There 
were  probably  not  twenty  cities  to  be  found  with  more  than 
one  Christian  congregation ;  and  places  of  inferior  conse- 
quence would  speedily  act  upon  the  example  of  the  large 
capitals.  But  unquestionably  the  system  now  introduced 
gradually  effected  a  complete  revolution  in  the  state  of  the 
Church.  The  ablest  man  in  the  presbytery  was  commonly 
elevated  to  the  chair,  so  that  the  weight  of  his  talents,  and  of 
his  general  character,  was  added  to  his  official  consequence. 
The  bishop  soon  became  the  grand  centre  of  influence  and 
authority,  and  arrogated  to  himself  the  principal  share  in  the 
administration  of  all  divine  ordinances. 

When  this  change  commenced,  the  venerable  Polycarp  was 
still  alive,  and  there  are  grounds  for  believing  that,  when  far 
advanced  in  life,  he  was  induced  to  undertake  a  journey  to 
Rome  on  a  mission  of  remonstrance.  This  view  is  corrobo- 
rated by  the  fact  that  his  own  Church  of  Smyrna  did  not  now 
adopt  the  new  polity;  for  we  have  seen'  that,  upwards  of  a 

•  Euseb.  iv.  ii  ;  iv.  19.  Dr.  Burton  has  well  observed  that  Alexandria 
and  Antioch  were  "  the  hotbeds  from  which  nearly  all  the  mischief  arose, 
which,  under  the  name  of  philosophy,  inundated  the  Church  in  the  second 
century." — Lectures,  vol.  ii.,  p.  103. 

'  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap,  v.,  pp.  470,  471. 


POLYCARP'S   VISIT   TO   ROME.  507 

quarter  of  a  century  after  his  demise,  it  still  continued  under 
presbyterial  government.  Irenseus  was  well  acquainted  with 
the  circumstances  which  occasioned  this  extraordinary  visit  of 
Polycarp  to  Rome ;  but  had  he  not  come  into  collision  with 
the  pastor  of  the  great  city  in  the  controversy  relating  to  the 
Paschal  Feast,  we  would  never  have  heard  of  its  occurrence. 
Even  when  he  mentions  it,  he  observes  a  mysterious  silence 
as  to  its  main  design.  The  Paschal  question  awakened  little 
interest  in  the  days  of  Polycarp,  and  among  the  topics  which 
he  discussed  with  Anicetus  when  at  Rome,  it  occupied  a 
subordinate  position.'  "  When,"  says  Irenaeus,  "  the  most 
blessed  Polycarp  came  to  Rome  in  the  days  of  Anicetus,  and 
when  as  to  certain  other  matters  they  had  a  little  controversy, 
they  were  immediately  agreed  on  this  point  (of  the  Pass- 
over) without  any  disputation."  ^  What  the  "  certain  other 
matters "  were  which  created  the  chief  dissatisfaction,  we 
are  left  obscurely  to  conjecture ;  but  they  must  have  been 
of  no  ordinary  consequence,  when  so  eminent  a  minister  as 
Polycarp,  now  verging  on  eighty  years  of  age,  felt  it  neces- 
sary to  make  a  lengthened  journey  by  sea  and  land  with 
a  view  to  their  adjustment.  He  considered  that  Anicetus 
was  at  least  influentially  connected  with  arrangements  which 
he  deemed  objectionable  ;  and  felt  that  he  could  obtain  their 
modification  Or  abandonment  only  by  a  personal  conference 
with  the  Roman  pastor.  And  intimations  are  not  wanting 
that  he  was  doubtful  whether  Anicetus  would  treat  with  him 
as  his  ecclesiastical  peer,  for  he  seems  to  have  been  in  some 
degree  appeased  when  the  bishop  of  the  capital  permitted  him 
to  preside  in  the  Church  at  the  celebration  of  the  Eucharist.' 
This,  certainly,  was  no  extraordinary  piece  of  condescension  ; 
as  Polycarp,  on  various  grounds,  was  entitled  to  take  prece- 
dence of  his  Roman  brother;*  and  the  reception  given  to  the 

*  "  Quanquam  sunt  inter  scriptores  ecclesiasticos  qui  putaverint  Poly- 
carpum  Roman  venisse,  ut  quaereret  de  festo  paschatis :  ex  his  Irensei  ver- 
bis luce  clarius  elacet,  ob  alias  causas  loannis  apostoli  discipulum  Roman 
profectum  esse." — Stzeren's  IrencEies,  i.,  p.  826,  note. 

'^  Euseb.  V.  24.  '  Stieren's  "  Irenaeus,"  i.  827. 

*  First,  as  his  senior ;  and  secondly,  as  a  disciple  of  the  apostles. 


5o8  PRELACY   EASILY   INTRODUCED. 

"  apostolic  presbyter"  was  only  what  might  have  fairly  been 
expected  in  the  way  of  ministerial  courtesy.'  Why  has  it  then 
been  mentioned  as  an  exhibition  of  the  episcopal  humility  of 
Anicetus  ?  Obviously  because  he  had  been  previously  making 
some  arrogant  assumptions.  He  had  been,  probably,  presum- 
ing on  his  position  as  a  pastor  of  the  "new  order,"  and  his 
bearing  had  been  so  offensive  that  Polycarp  had  been  com- 
missioned to  visit  him  on  an  errand  of  expostulation.  But  by 
prudently  paying  marked  deference  to  the  aged  stranger,  and 
by  giving  a  plausible  account  of  some  proceedings  which  had 
awakened  anxiety,  he  succeeded  in  quieting  his  apprehensions. 
That  the  presiding  minister  of  the  Church  of  Smyrna  was  en- 
gaged in  some  such  delicate  mission  is  all  but  certain,  as  the 
design  of  the  journey  would  not  otherwise  have  been  involved 
in  so  profound  secrecy.  The  very  fact  of  its  occurrence  is 
first  noticed  forty  years  afterward,  when  the  haughty  behavior 
of  another  bishop  of  Rome  provoked  Irenaeus  to  call  up  cer- 
tain unwelcome  reminiscences  which  it  suggested. 

Though  the  journey  of  Polycarp  betokens  that  he  was  deep- 
ly dissatisfied  with  something  going  forward  in  the  great  me- 
tropolis, we  can  only  guess  at  its  design  and  its  results;  and 
it  is  now  impossible  to  ascertain  whether  the  alterations  intro- 
duced there  encountered  any  very  formidable  opposition  ;  but 
it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  they  were  effected  without 
much  difficulty.  The  disorders  of  the  Church  imperatively 
called  for  some  strong  remedy;  and  it  occurred  to  not  a  few 
that  a  distracted  presbytery,  under  the  presidency  of  a. feeble 
old  man,  was  ill  fitted  to  meet  the  emergency.  They  accord- 
ingly proposed  to  strengthen  the  executive  government  by 
providing  for  the  appointment  of  a  more  efficient  moderator, 
and  by  arming  him  with  additional  authority.  The  people 
were  gratified  by  the  change,  for,  though  in  Rome  and  some 
other  great  cities,  where  its  effects  were  felt  most  sensibly, 
they  met  before  this  time  in  separate  congregations,  they  had 

'  It  was  a  standing  rule  of  the  Church  that  a  strange  bishop  was  to  be 
thus  treated.  See  "  Didascalia,"  by  Piatt,  p.  97.  See  also  lyth  canon  of 
the  Council  of  Aries,  held  A.D.  314. 


PRELACY   GRADUALLY   ESTABLISHED.  509 

still  much  united  intercourse  ;  and  as,  on  such  occasions,  their 
edification  depended  mainly  on  the  gifts  of  the  chairman  of 
the  eldership,  they  gladly  joined  in  advancing  the  best  preach- 
er in  the  presbytery  to  the  office  of  president.  At  this  par- 
ticular crisis  the  alteration  was  not  unacceptable  to  the  elders 
themselves.  To  those  of  them  who  were  in  the  declinfe  of 
life,  there  was  nothing  very  inviting  in  the  prospect  of  occu- 
pying the  most  prominent  position  in  a  Church  threatened  by 
persecution  and  torn  by  divisions,  so  that  they  were  not  un- 
willing to  waive  any  claim  to  the  presidency  which  their  seni- 
ority implied ;  whilst  the  more  vigorous,  sanguine,  and  aspir- 
ing hailed  an  arrangement  which  promised  at  no  distant  day 
to  place  one  of  themselves  in  a  position  of  greatly  increased 
dignity  and  influence.  All  were  agreed  that  the  times  de- 
manded the  appointment  of  the  ablest  member  of  presbytery 
as  moderator;  and  none,  perhaps,  foresaw  the  danger  of  add- 
ing permanently  to  the  prerogatives  of  so  potent  a  chairman. 
It  was  never  anticipated  that  the  day  was  to  come  when  the 
new  law  would  be  regarded  agrany  other  than  a  human  con- 
trivance ;  and  when  the  bishops  and  their  adherents  would 
contend  that  the  presbyters,  under  no  circumstances  whatever, 
had  a  right  to  reassume  that  power  which  they  now  surren- 
dered. The  result,  however,  has  demonstrated  the  folly  of 
human  wisdom.  The  prelates,  originally  designed  to  save  the 
Church  from  heresy,  became  themselves  at  length  the  abettors 
of  false  doctrine  ;  and  whilst  they  grievously  abused  the  influ- 
ence with  which  they  were  entrusted,  they  had  the  temerity 
to  maintain  that  they  still  continued  to  be  exclusively  the 
fountains  of  spiritual  authority. 

Prelacy  was  not  set  up  at  once  in  the  plenitude  of  its  power. 
Neither  was  the  system  simultaneously  adopted  by  Christians 
all  over  the  world.  Jerome  informs  us  that  it  was  established 
"  by  little  and  little  "; '  and  he  thus  refers,  as  well  to  its  grad- 
ual spread,  as  to  the  almost  imperceptible  growth  of  its  pre- 
tensions.    We  have  shown  in  a  preceding  chapter,"  that  in 

'  "  Paulatim  vero,  ut  dissensionum  plantaria  evellerentur,  ad  uniim  om- 
nem  solicitudinem  esse  delatam." — Comment,  in  Tit. 
"  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap,  v.,  pp.  464,  466,  470,  473. 


510  REMNANTS   OF   PRESBYTERIANISM. 

various  cities,  such  as  Smyrna,  Cassarea,  and  Jerusalem,  the 
senior  presbyter  continued  to  be  the  president  till  the  close 
of  the  second  century  ;  and  there  the  Church  was  meanwhile 
governed  by  "  the  common  council  of  the  presbyters."  '  In 
many  places,  even  at  a  much  later  period,  the  episcopal  sys- 
tem was  still  unknown."  But  its  advocates  were  active  and 
influential,  and  they  continued  to  make  steady  progress.  The 
consolidation  of  the  Catholic  system  contributed  vastly  to  its 
advancement.  The  leading  features  of  this  system  are  now 
to  be  illustrated. 

'  But  the  presiding  elders  now  began  generally  to  be  called  bishops. 

"  Thus,  though,  as  we  may  infer  from  the  testimony  of  Tertullian,  Chris- 
tianity was  planted  in  North  Britain  in  the  second  century,  the  universal 
tradition  is  that  originally  there  were  no  bishops  in  that  country.  According 
to  an  ancient  MS.  belonging  to  the  former  bishops  of  St.  Andrews,  and  to 
be  found  in  the  "  Life  of  William  Wishart,"  one  of  their  number  who  lived 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  the  first  bishop  created  in  Scotland  was  elected  in 
A.D.  270.     See  Jamieson's  "  Culdees,"  pp.  100,  loi. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    CATHOLIC    SYSTEM. 

The  word  catholic,  which  signifies  universal  or  general, 
came  into  use  toward  the  end  of  the  second  century.  Its  in- 
troduction indicates  a  new  phase  in  the  history  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical community.  For  upwards  of  a  hundred  years  after  its 
formation,  the  Church  presented  the  appearance  of  one  great 
and  harmonious  brotherhood,  as  false  teachers  had  hitherto 
failed  to  create  any  considerable  diversity  of  sentiment ;  but 
when  many  of  the  literati  began  to  embrace  the  Gospel,  the 
influence  of  elements  of  discord  soon  became  obvious.  These 
converts  attempted  to  graft  their  philosophical  theories  on 
Christianity;  not  a  few  of  the  more  unstable  of  the  brethren, 
captivated  by  their  ingenuity  and  eloquence,  were  tempted  to 
adopt  their  views ;  and  though  the  great  mass  of  the  disciples 
repudiated  their  adulterations  of  the  truth,  the  Christian  com- 
monwealth was  distracted  and  divided.  Those  who  banded 
themselves  together  to  maintain  the  unity  of  the  Church  were 
soon  known  by  the  designation  of  Catholics.  "  After  the  days 
of  the  apostles,"  says  one  of  the  fathers,  ''  when  heresies  had 
burst  forth,  and  were  striving  under  various  names  to  tear 
piecemeal  and  divide  the  Dove  and  the  Queen  of  God,'  did  not 
the  apostolic  people  require  a  name  of  their  own  whereby  to 
mark  the  unity  of  those  that  were  uncorrupted  ?  .  .  .  .  There- 

'  Song  of  Solomon,  vi.  9;  Ps,  xlv.  9.     "Sub  Apostolis  nemo  Catholicus 

vocabatur Cum  post  Apostolos  haeresesextitissent,  diversisque  nomini- 

bus  columbam  Dei  atque  reg-inam  lacerare  per  partes  et  scindere  niterentur  ; 
nonne  cognomen  suum  ecclesia  postulabat,  quas  incorrupti  populi  distingueret 
unitatem  ?  " 

(511) 


512  THE   CATHOLIC   SYSTEM. 

fore  our  people,  when  named  Catholic,  are  separated  by  this 
title  from  those  denominated  heretics."  ' 

The  Catholic  system,  being  an  integral  portion  of  the  policy 
which  invested  the  presiding  elder  with  additional  authority, 
rose  contemporaneously  with  Prelacy.  When  Gnosticism  was 
spreading  so  rapidly,  and  creating  so  much  scandal  and  confu- 
sion, schism  upon  schism  appeared  unavoidable.  How  was  the 
Church  to  be  kept  from  going  to  pieces  ?  How  could  its  unity 
be  best  conserved  ?  How  could  it  contend  most  successfully 
against  its  subtle  and  restless  disturbers?  Such  were  the  prob- 
lems which  occupied  the  attention  of  its  leading  ministers. 
It  was  thought  that  all  these  difificulties  were  solved  by  the 
adoption  of  the  Catholic  system.  Were  the  Church,  it  was 
said,  to  place  more  power  in  the  hands  of  individuals,  and  to 
consolidate  its  influence,  it  could  bear  down  more  effectively 
on  the  errorists.  Every  chief  pastor  of  the  Catholic  Church 
was  the  symbol  of  the  unity  of  his  own  ecclesiastical  district  ; 
and  the  associated  bishops  represented  the  unity  of  the  whole 
body  of  the  faithful.  According  to  the  Catholic  system,  when 
strictly  carried  out,  every  individual  excommunicated  by  one 
bishop  was  excommunicated  by  all,  so  that  when  a  heresiarch 
was  excluded  from  fellowship  .in  one  city,  he  could  not  be  re- 
ceived elsewhere.  The  visible  unity  of  the  Church  was  the  great 
principle  which  the  Catholic'system  sought  to  realize.  "The 
Church,"  says  Cyprian,  "which  is  catholic  and  one,  is  not  sepa- 
rated or  divided,  but  is  in  truth  connected  and  joined  together 
by  the  cement  of  bishops  mutually  cleaving  to  each  other."  * 

The  funds  of  the  Church  were  placed  very  early  in  the  hands 
of  the  president  of  the  presbytery  ; '  and  though  they  may  not 
have  been  at  his  absolute  disposal,  he  soon  found  means  of  sus- 
taining his  authority  by  means  of  his  monetary  influence.  But 
the  power  which  he  possessed,  as  the  recognized  centre  of 
ecclesiastical  unity,  to  prevent  any  of  his  elders  or  deacons  from 
performing  any  official  act  of  which  he  disapproved,  constituted 

'  Pacian,  "lipist.  to  Sympronian,"  sees.  5  and  8.  Pacian  was  bishop  of 
Barcelona.     He  died  a.d.  392. 

'  Epist.  Ixix.,  265.  266.  '  Justin  Martyr,  Opera,  p.  99. 


THE   BISHOP   DISPENSED   BAPTISM.  513 

one  of  the  essential  features  of  the  Catholic  system.  "  The 
right  to  administer  baptism,"  says  Tertullian,  ''  belongs  to  the 
chief  priest — that  is,  the  bishop  ;  then  to  the  presbyters  and 
the  deacons,'  yet  not  without  the  authority  of  the  bishop,  for 
the  honor  of  the  Church,  which  being  preserved,  peace  is  pre- 
served." '  Here,  the  origin  of  Catholicism  is  pretty  distinctly 
indicated ;  for  the  prerogatives  of  the  bishop  are  described, 
not  as  matters  of  divine  right,  but  of  ecclesiastical  arrangement.' 
They  were  given  to  him  "  for  the  honor  of  the  Church,"  that 
peace  might  be  preserved  when  heretics  began  to  cause  divis- 
ions. 

Though  the  bishop  could  give  permission  to  others  to  cele- 
brate divine  ordinances,  he  was  himself  their  chief  administra- 
tor. He  was  generally  the  only  preacher ;  he  usually  dispensed 
baptism  ;  *  and  he  presided  at  the  observance  of  the  Eucharist. 
At  Rome,  where  the  Catholic  system  was  maintained  most 
scrupulously,  his  presence  was  considered  necessary  to  the  due 
consecration  of  the  elements.  Hence,  at  one  time,  the  sacra- 
mental symbols  were  carried  from  the  cathedral  church  to  all 
the  places  of  Christian  worship  throughout  the  city."  With 
such  minute  care  did  the  Roman  chief  pastor  endeavor  to  dis- 
seminate the  doctrine  that  whoever  was  not  in  communion 
with  the  bishop  was  out  of  the  Church. 

The  establishment  of  a  close  connection,  bet\yeen  certain 

'  According-  to  the  "  Apostolic  Constitutions  "  the  deacons  were  not  at  lib- 
erty to  baptize.     Lib.  viii.,  c.  28, 

"^  "De  Baptismo,"  c.  17. 

'  Tertullian  thus  corroborates  the  testimony  of  Jerome. 

*  "  In  the  sixth  century  the  clergy  of  Italy  complained  to  Justinian  that, 
owing  to  the  vacaficy  of  sees, '  an  immense  multitude  of  people  died  without 
baptism.'  Even  so  late  as  the  time  of  Hincmar  (the  ninth  century)  baptisms 
were  still  performed  by  the  bishop,  and  they  alofte  were  cojisidered  canoni- 
cal."— Palmer's  Episcopacy  Vindicated,  p.  35,  note. 

' "  It  appears  to  have  been  the  custom  at  Rome  and  other  places  to  send 
from  the  cathedral  church  the  bread  consecrated  to  the  several  parish 
churches." — St  tiling  fleet's  Irenicum,  pp.  369,  370.  "Thomassinus  shows 
that  in  the  fifth  century  the  presbyters  of  Rome  did  not  consecrate  the 
Eucharist  in  their  respective  churches,  but  it  was  sent  to  them  from  the 
principal  church." — Palmer,  p.  35,  note. 


514  THE   CATHOLIC    SYSTEM. 

large  Christian  associations  and  the  smaller  societies  around 
them,  constituted  the  next  link  in  the  organization  of  the 
Catholic  system.  These  communities,  being  generally  related 
as  mother  and  daughter  churches,  were  already  prepared  to 
adapt  themselves  to  the  new  type  of  ecclesiastical  polity.  The 
apostles,  or  their  immediate  disciples,  had  founded  congrega- 
tions in  most  of  the  great  cities  of  the  Empire ;  and  every  so- 
ciety thus  instituted,  now  distinguished  by  the  designation  of 
the  principal '  or  apostolic  Church,  became  a  centre  of  ecclesi- 
astical unity.  Its  presiding  minister  sent  the  Eucharist  to  the 
teachers  of  the  little  flocks  in  his  vicinity,  to  signify  that  he 
acknowledged  them  as  brethren;"  and  every  pastor  who  thus 
enjoyed  communion  with  the  principal  Church  was  recognized 
as  a  Catholic  bishop.  This  parent  establishment  was  considered 
a  bulwark  which  protected  all  the  Christian  communities  sur- 
rounding it  from  heresy,  and  they  were  consequently  expected 
to  be  guided  by  its  traditions.  "  It  is  manifest,"  says  Tertul- 
lian,  "  that  all  doctrine,  which  agrees  with  these  apostolic 
Churches,  THE  WOMBS  AND  ORIGINALS  OF  THE  FAITH,"  must 
be  accounted  true,  as  without  doubt  containing  that  which  the 
Churches  have  received  from  the  apostles,  the  apostles  from 
Christ,  Christ  from  God ;  and  that  all  other  doctrine  must  be 
judged  at  once  to  be  false,  which  savors  of  things  contrary  to 
the  truth  of  the  Churches,  and  of  the  apostles,  and  of  Christ, 
and  of  God.  ....  Go  through  the  apostolic  Churches,  in  which 
the  very  seats  of  the  apostles,  at  this  very  day,  preside  over  their 
own  places,^  in  which  their  own  authentic  writings  are  read, 
speaking  with  the  voice  of  each,  and  making  the  face  of  each 

'  Thus  Rome  it  called  the  "  principal  Church  "  in  regard  to  Carthage. 
Cyprian,  Epist.  \\\,  p.  183. 

''  Tertullian  refers  to  this  when  he  says,  "  Una  omnes  probant  unitate 
cominum'cai to  pacts  di  appellatio  fraternitatis,  et  contesseratio  hospitalitatis." 
— De  Prascrip.,  c.  20. 

*  "  Ecclesiis  aposlolicis  matricibuset  originalibus  firlei."  See  also  Tertul- 
lian against  Marcion  (book  iv.,  c.  35)  where  Jerusalem  is  called  "  the  womb 
of  religion. " 

*  "  Cathedrae  apostolorum  suis  locis  praesident."  These  words  clearly  in- 
dicate that  the  Churches  founded  by  the  apostles  were  now  recognized  as 
centres  of  unity  for  the  surrounding  Christian  communities. 


UNITY   OF   CHRISTIAN   SOCIETIES.  515 

present  to  the  eye.  Is  Achaia  near  to  you  ?  You  have  Corinth. 
If  you  are  not  far  from  Macedonia,  you  have  Philippi,  you  have 
the  Thessalonians.'  If  you  can  travel  into  Asia,  you  have  Ephe- 
sus.  But  if  you  are  near  to  Italy  you  have  Rome,  where  we 
also  have  an  authority  close  at  hand."  ^ 

But  the  Catholic  system  was  not  yet  complete.  In  every 
congregation  the  bishop  or  pastor  was  the  centre  of  unity, 
and  in  every  district  the  principal  or  apostolic  Church  bound 
together  the  smaller  Christian  societies  ;  but  how  were  the 
apostolic  Churches  themselves  to  be  united  ?  This  question 
did  not  long  remain  without  a  solution.^  Had  the  Church  of 
Jerusalem,  when  the  Catholic  system  was  first  organized,  still 
occupied  its  ancient  position,  it  might  have  established  a  bet- 
ter title  to  precedence  than  any  other  ecclesiastical  commu- 
nity in  existence.  It  had  been,  beyond  all  controversy,  the 
mother  Church  of  Christendom.  But  it  had  been  recently 
dissolved,  and  a  new  society,  composed,  to  a  great  extent,  of 
new  members,  was  now  in  process  of  formation  in  the  new 
city  of  Aelia.  Meanwhile  the  Church  of  Rome  had  been 
rapidly  acquiring  strength,  and  its  connection  with  the  seat  of 
government   pointed  it  out  as  the  appropriate  head  of  the 

'  It  is  worthy  of  note  that,  in  the  second  canonical  epistle  ever  written  by 
Paul,  he  warns  this  Church  of  the  coming  of  the  Man  of  Sin  (2  Thess.  ii.  3). 
It  appears  from  the  text  that  thus  early  it  was  identified  with  the  system 
which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  Papacy.  It  is  equally  remarka- 
ble that  the  Bishop  of  Thessalonica  was  the  first  Papal  Vicar  ^v^r  appoint- 
ed. See  Bovver's  "  History  of  the  Popes,"  Damasus,  thirty-sixth  bishop; 
and  Gieseler,  i.  264. 

^  "De  Prsescrip."  xxi.,  xxxvi. 

^  The  tendency  of  "  Church  principles  "  to  terminate  in  the  recognition 
of  a  universal  bishop  has  appeared  in  modern  as  well  as  in  ancient  times, 
"  What  other  step,"  says  a  noble  author,  "  remains  to  stand  between  those 
who  hold  those  principles  and  Rome  ?  Only  one :  that  the  priesthood  so 
constituted,  invested  with  such  powers,  is  organized  under  one  head — a 

Pope The  space  to  be  traversed  in  arriving  at  it  is  so  narrow,  and 

so  unimpeded  by  any  positive  barrier,  either  of  logic  or  of  feeling,  that  the 
slightest  influence  of  sentiment  or  imagination,  of  weakness  or  of  supersti- 
tion, is  sufficient  to  draw  men  across." — Letter  from  the  Duke  of  Argyll  to 
the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  p.  23.     London,  Moxon,  1851. 


5l6  THE   CExVTRE   OF   CATHOLIC   UNITY. 

Catholic  confederation.'  If  the  greatest  convenience  of  the 
greatest  number  of  Churches  were  to  be  taken  into  account, 
it  had  claims  of  peculiar  potency,  for  it  was  easily  accessible 
by  sea  or  land  from  all  parts  of  the  Empire,  and  it  had  facili- 
ties for  keeping  up  communication  with  the  provinces  to 
which  no  other  society  could  pretend.  Nor  were  these  its 
only  recommendations.  It  had,  as  was  alleged,  been  watered 
by  the  ministry  of  two  or  three ""  of  the  apostles,  so  that,  even 
as  an  apostolic  Church,  it  had  high  pretensions.  In  addition 
to  all  this,  it  had,  more  than  once,  sustained  with  extraor- 
dinary constancy  the  first  and  fiercest  brunt  of  persecution  ; 
and  if  its  members  had  so  signalized  themselves  in  the  army 
of  martyrs,  why  should  not  its  bishop  lead  the  van  of  the 
Catholic  Church  ?  Such  considerations  urged  in  favor  of  a 
community  already  distinguished  by  its  wealth,  as  well  as  by 
its  charity,  were  amply  sufficient  to  establish  its  claim  as  the 
centre  of  Catholic  unity.  If  the  arrangement  was  concocted 
in  Rome  itself,  they  must  have  been  felt  to  be  irresistible. 
Hence  Irenaeus,  writing  about  A.D.  i8o,  speaks  of  it  even  then 
as  the  recognized  head  of  the  Churches  of  the  Empire.  "To 
this  Church,"  says  he,  "  because  it  is  more  potentially  princi- 
pal, it  is  necessary  that  every  Catholic  Church  should  go,  as 
in  it  the  apostolic  tradition  has  by  the  Catholics  been  always 
preserved."  * 

Many  Protestant  writers  have  attempted  to  explain  away 
the  meaning  of  this  remarkable  passage,  but  the  candid  stu- 
dent of  history  is  bound  to  listen  respectfully  to  its  testimony. 
When  we  assign  to  the  words  of  Irenaeus  all  the  significance 
of  which  they  are  susceptible,  they  only  attest  the  fact  that, 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  second  century,  the  Church  of  Rome 
was  acknowledged  by  one  who  had  been  specially  indebted  to 
its  bounty,  as  the  most  potent  of  all  the  apostolic  Churches. 
And   in  the  same  place  the  grounds  of  its  pre-eminence  are 

'  This  is  the  reason  assigned  for  the  Primacy  of  Rome  in  the  28th  Canon 
of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  held  A.D.  451. 

*  Tertullian  says  that  John,  as  well  as  Peter  and  Paul,  had  been  in  Rome, 
"  De  Prasscrip."  xxxvi. 

^  "  Contra  Haeres,"  iii.,  c.  iii.,  5  2. 


THE   BISHOP   OF   ROME.  517 

enumerated  pretty  fully  by  the  pastor  of  Lyons.  It  was  the 
most  ancient  Church  in  the  West  of  Europe  ;  it  was  also  the 
most  populous  ;  like  a  city  set  upon  a  hill,  it  was  known  to 
all ;  and  it  was  reputed,  by  its  admirers,  to  have  had  for  its 
founders  the  most  illustrious  of  the  inspired  heralds  of  the 
cross,  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  apostle  of  the  cir- 
cumcision.' It  was  more  '*  potentially  principal,"  because  it 
was  itself  the  principal  of  the  apostolic  or  principal  Churches. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that  every  principal  bishop,''  or 
presiding  minister  of  an  apostolic  Church,  sent  the  Eucharist 
to  the  pastors  around  him  as  a  pledge  of  their  ecclesiastical 
fellowship ;  and  the  bishop  of  Rome  kept  up  intercourse  with 
the  other  bishops  of  the  apostolic  Churches  by  transmitting 
to  them  the  same  symbol  of  catholicity.'  The  sacred  ele- 
ments were  conveyed  by  confidential  churchmen,  who  served, 
at  the  same  time,  as  channels  of  communication  between  the 
great  prelate  and  the  more  influential  of  his  brethren.  By 
this  means  the  communion  of  the  whole  Catholic  Church  was 
constantly  maintained. 

When  the  Catholic  system  was  set  up,  and  the  bishop  of 
Rome  recognized  as  its  Head,  he  was  not  supposed  to  possess, 
in  his  new  position,  any  arbitrary  or  despotic  authority.  He 
was  simply  understood  to  hold  among  pastors  the  place  which 
had  previously  been  occupied  by  the  senior  elder  in  the  pres- 
bytery— that  is,  he  was  the  president  or  moderator.  The  the- 
oretical parity  of  all  bishops,  the  chief  pastor  of  Rome  included, 
was  a  principle  long  jealously  asserted."  But  the  prelate  of 
the  capital  was  the  individual  to  whom  other  bishops  ad- 
dressed themselves  respecting  all  matters  affecting  the  general 

'  "  Maximae  et  antiquissimae  et  omnibus  cog-nits,  a  gloriosissimis  duobus 
apostolis  Petro  et  Paulo  Romae  fundats  et  constitutse  ecclesice." — Irenceus, 
iii.,  c.  iii.,  §  2. 

-  We  find  this  designation  in  some  of  the  early  canons.  See  Bunsen's 
"  Hippolytus,"  iii.  50. 

^  Euseb.  V.  24. 

*  See  the  statement  of  Cyprian  in  the  Council  of  Carthage,  "  Opera," 
p.  597;  and  Jerome,  in  his  Epistle  to  Evangelus,  "  Opera,"  iv.,  secund 
pars,  p.  803. 


5l8  ROME   AND   THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH. 

interests  of  the  ecclesiastical  community  ;  he  collected  theii" 
sentiments  ;  and  he  announced  the  decisions  of  their  united 
wisdom.  It  was,  however,  scarcely  possible  for  an  official  in 
his  circumstances  either  to  satisfy  all  parties  or  to  keep  within 
the  limits  of  his  legitimate  power.  When  his  personal  feel- 
ings were  known  to  run  strongly  in  a  particular  channel,  the 
minority,  to  whom  he  was  opposed,  at  least  suspected  him  of 
attempting  domination.  Hence  it  was  that  by  those  who 
were  discontented  with  his  policy  he  was  tauntingly  designa- 
ted, as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  third  century,  The 
Supreme  Pontiff,  and  The  Bishop  of  Bishops.'  These  titles 
can  not  be  gravely  quoted  as  proofs  of  the  existence  of  the 
claims  which  they  indicate  ;  for  they  were  employed  ironically 
by  malcontents  who  wished  thus  either  to  impeach  his  parti- 
ality, or  to  condemn  his  interference.  But  they  supply  clear 
evidence  that  his  growing  influence  was  beginning  to  be  for- 
midable, and  that  he  already  stood  at  the  head  of  the  minis- 
ters of  Christendom. 

The  preceding  statements  enable  us  to  understand  why  the 
interests  pf  Rome  and  of  the  Catholic  Church  have  always 
been  identiiied.  The  metropolis  of  Italy  has,  in  fact,  from  the 
beginning  been  the  heart  of  the  Catholic  system.  In  ancient 
times  Roman  statesmen  were  noted  for  their  skill  in  fitting  up 
the  machinery  of  political  government  :  Roman  churchmen 
have  labored  no  less  successfully  in  the  department  of  eccle- 
siastical organization.  The  Catholic  system  is  a  wonderful 
specimen  of  constructive  ability ;  and  the  same  city  which 
produced  Prelacy,  also  gave  birth,  about  the  same  time,  to 
this  masterpiece  of  human  contrivance.  This  fact  may  be 
established,  as  well  by  other  evidences,  as  by  the  positive  testi- 
mony of  Cyprian.  The  bishop  of  Carthage,  who  flourished 
only  about  a  century  after  it  appeared,  was  connected  with 
that  quarter  of  the  Church  in  which  it  originated.  We  can 
not,  therefore,  reasonably  reject   the  depositions  of  so   com- 

'  "  Pontifex  scilicet  Maximus,  quod  est  episoopus  episcoporuin,  edicit : 
Ego  et  moechis  et  fornicationis  delicta  poenitentia  functis  dimitto." — Ter- 
tullian,  De  l^udicifia,  c.  i.  "  Ncque  eniiii  quisquam  nostrum  episcopum  se 
esse  episcoporuin  constituit." — Cyprian,  Con.  Car.,  Opera,  597. 


THE   WORD   "CATHOLIC."  5ig 

petent  a  witness,  more  especially  when  he  speaks  so  frequently 
and  so  confidently  of  its  source.  When  he  describes  the 
Roman  bishopric  as  "  the  root  and  wouib  of  the  Catholic 
Church^' '  his  language  admits  of  no  second  interpretation. 
He  was  well  aware  that  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  was  the  root 
and  womb  of  all  the  apostolic  Churches  ;  and  when  he  em- 
ploys  such  phraseology,  he  refers  to  some  new  phase  of  Chris- 
tianity which  had  originated  in  the  capital  of  the  Empire.  In 
another  place  he  speaks  of  "  the  see  of  Peter,  and  the  principal 
Church,  whence  the  unity  of  the  priesthood  took  its  rise''^  Such 
statements  shut  us  up  to  the  conclusion  that  Rome  was  the 
source  and  centre  from  which  Catholicism  radiated. 

This  system  was  only  gradually  developed,  and  nearly  half 
a  century  elapsed  before  it  acquired  such  maturity  that  it  at- 
tained a  distinctive  designation.'  But  as  it  was  currently 
believed  to  be  admirably  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
Church,  it  spread  with  much  rapidity;  and  in  less  than  a  hun- 
dred years  after  its  rise,  its  influence  may  be  traced  in  almost 
all  parts  of  the  Empire.  We  thus  explain  a  historical  phe- 
nomenon which  is  otherwise  unaccountable.  Toward  the 
close  of  the  second  and  throughout  the  whole  of  the  third 
centuiy,  ecclesiastical  writers  connected  with  various  and  dis- 
tant provinces  refer  with  peculiar  respect  to  the  Apostle  Peter, 

'  "Ecclesice  catholicse  radicem  et  matricem." — Epist.  xlv.,  p.  133. 

"^  "Navigare  audent  et  ad  Petri  cathedram  atque  ad  ecclesiam  principalem 
unde  unitas  sacerdotalis  exorta  est." — Epist.  Iv.,  p.  183.  "  Nam  Petro  primum 
Dominus,  super  quern  cedificavit  ecclesiam,  et  unde  unitatis  originem  instj- 
tuit  et  ostendit,  potestatem  istam  dedit." — Epist.  Ixxiii.,  p.  280.  See  also 
Epist.  Ixx. — "  Una  ecclesia  a  Christo  Domino  super  Petrum  origlne  uni- 
tatis et  ratione  fundata." 

'  The  word  catholic  first  occurs  in  the  Epistle  of  the  Church  of  Smyrna, 
giving  an  account  of  the  martyrdom  of  Polycarp,  but  that  letter  was  not 
written  until  at  least  twenty  years  after  the  event  which  it  records.  See 
Period  ii.,  sec.  i.,  chap,  iv.,  p.  306.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  word  is  not 
found  in  Irenseus,  or  used  by  his  Latin  interpreter.  The  pastor  of  Lyons, 
however,  recognizes  the  distinction  indicated  by  the  word  catholic,  for  he 
speaks  of  the  ecclesiastici,  or  churchmen,  and  of  those  "  qui  stmt  undique." 
Stieren's  "  Irenasus,"  i.  430,  502,  note.  The  word  catholic  was  quite  cur- 
rent in  the  time  of  Tertullian. 


520  THE   HEAD   OF   THE   CATHOLIC    LEAGUE. 

and  even  appeal  to  Scripture '  with  a  view  to  his  exaltation. 
Their  misinterpretations  of  the  Word  reveal  an  extreme  anx- 
iety to  obtain  something  like  an  inspired  warrant  for  their 
Catholicism.  The  visible  unity  of  the  Church  was  deemed  by 
them  essential  to  its  very  existence,  and  the  Roman  see  was 
the  actual  key-stone  of  the  Catholic  structure.  Hence  every 
friend  of  orthodoxy  imagined  it  to  be,  as  well  his  duty  as  his 
interest,  to  uphold  the  claims  of  the  supposed  representative 
of  Peter,  and  thus  to  maintain  the  cause  of  ecclesiastical  unity. 
It  was  to  be  anticipated  under  such  circumstances  that  Script- 
ure would  be  miserably  perverted,  and  that  the  see,  which 
was  believed  to  possess  as  its  heritage  the  prerogatives  of  the 
apostle  of  the  circumcision,  would  be  the  subject  of  extrava- 
gant laudation. 

Ambition  has  been  often  represented  as  the  great  principle 
which  guided  the  policy  of  the  early  Roman  bishops  ;  but 
there  is  no  evidence  that,  as  a  class,  they  were  inferior  in  piety 
to  other  churchmen  ;  and  the  readiness  with  which  some  of 
them  suffered  for  the  faith  attests  their  Christian  sincerity  and 
resolution.  Ambition  soon  began  to  operate  ;  but  their  ele- 
vation was  not  so  much  the  result  of  any  deep-laid  scheme  for 
their  aggrandizement,  as  of  a  series  of  circumstances  pushing 
them  into  prominence,  and  placing  them  in  a  most  influential 
position.  The  efforts  of  heretics  to  create  division  led  to  a 
reaction,  and  tempted  the  Church  to  adopt  arrangements  for 
preserving  union  by  which  its  liberties  were  eventually  com- 
promised. The  bishop  of  Rome  found  himself  almost  imme- 
diately at  the  head  of  the  Catholic  league ;  and,  before  the 
close  of  the  second  century,  he  was  acknowledged  as  the  chief 
pastor  of  Christendom.  About  that  time  wc  see  him  writing 
letters  to  some  of  the  most  distinguished  bishops  of  the  East,* 

'  Particularly  Matt.  xvi.  i8.  Clemens  Alexandrinus  says  that  our  Lord 
baptized  Peter  only,  and  that  Peter  then  baptized  other  apostles.  See 
Kaye's  "  Clement,"  p.  442 ;  and  Bunsen's  "  Analecta  Antenic,"  i.  p.  317. 
See  also  Origen,  "Opera,"  ii.  245  ;  and  Firmilian's  "Epistle." 

'  Even  Polycrates  of  Kphesus  admits  that  he  had  been  requested  by  Vic- 
tor to  convene  a  synod.  Euseb.  v.  24.  About  sixty  years  afterward  Cyprian 
writes  to  Stephen  of  Rome  requesting  him  to  send  letters  into  Gaul  that 


THE   THEORY   OF   CATHOLICISM.  $21 

directing  them  to  call  councils  ;  and  it  does  not  appear  that 
his  epistles  were  deemtd  unwarranted  or  officious.  Unity  of 
doctrine  was  speedily  connected  with  unity  of  discipline,  and 
an  opinion  gradually  prevailed  that  the  Church  Catholic 
should  exhibit  universal  uniformity.  When  Victor  differed 
from  the  Asiatic  bishops  relative  to  the  mode  of  observing 
the  Paschal  festival,  he  was  only  seeking  to  realize  the  idea  of 
unity;  and,  as  the  Head  of  the  Catholic  Church,  he  might 
have  carried  out  against  them  his  threat  of  excommunication, 
had  he  not  in  this  particular  case  been  moving  in  advance  of 
public  opinion.  When  Stephen,  sixty  years  afterward,  dis- 
puted with  Cyprian  and  others  concerning  the  rebaptism  of 
heretics,  he  was  still  endeavoring  to  work  out  the  same  unity; 
and  the  bishop  of  Carthage  found  himself  involved  in  contra- 
dictions when  he  proceeded  at  once  to  assert  his  independence, 
and  to  concede  to  the  see  of  Peter  the  honor  which,  as  he  ad- 
mitted, it  could  legitimately  challenge.' 

The  theory  of  Catholicism  is  based  on  principles  thoroughly 
fallacious.  Assuming  that  visible  unity  in  one  organization  is 
essential  to  the  Church  on  earth,  it  sanctions  the  startling  in- 
ference that  whoever  is  not  connected  with  a  certain  Qcclesi- 
astical  society  must  be  out  of  the  pale  of  salvation.  The 
most  grinding  spiritual  tyranny  ever  known  has  been  erected 
on  this  foundation.  And  yet  how  hollow  is  the  whole  system  ! 
It  is  no  more  necessary  that  all  the  children  of  God  in  this 
world  should  belong  to  the  same  visible  Church  than  that  all 
the  children  of  men  should  be  connected  with  the  same  earthly 
monarchy.  All  believers  are  "  one  in  Christ  ";  they  have  all 
"  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism  ";  but  "  the  kingdom  of 
God  cometh  not  with  observation,"  and  the  unity  of  the  saints 
on  earth  can  be  discerned  only  by  the  eye  of  Omniscience. 

Marcianus  the  bishop,  who  had  sided  with  Novatian,  "being  excommu- 
nicated, another  may  be  substituted  in  his  room."— Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixvii., 
pp.  248,  249. 

'  Thus  he  says  :  "  For  neither  did  Peter.  whoi7t  the  Lord  chose  first,  and 
on  whom  He  built  His  Church,  when  Paul  afterward  disputed  with  him 
about  circumcision,  claim  or  assume  anything  insolently  and  arrogantly  to 
himself,  so  as  to  say  that  he  held  the  primacy." — Epist.  Ixxi.,  p.  273. 


522  THE   ROMAN    BABEL, 

They  are  all  sustained  by  the  same  living  bread  which  cometh 
down  from  heaven,  but  they  may  recei\fe  their  spiritual  pro- 
vision as  members  of  ten  thousand  separated  Churches.  All 
who  truly  love  the  Saviour  are  united  to  Him  by  a  link  which 
can  never  be  broken  ;  and  no  ecclesiastical  barrier  can  either 
exclude  them  from  His  presence  here,  or  shut  them  out  from 
His  fellowship  hereafter.  But  a  number  of  men  may  as  well 
propose  to  appropriate  all  the  light  of  the  sun  or  all  the  winds 
of  heaven,  as  attempt  to  form  themselves  into  a  privileged 
society  with  a  monopoly  of  the  means  of  salvation. 

The  Church  of  Rome  is  understood  to  be  the  spiritual  Baby- 
lon of  the  Apocalypse,  and  yet  one  point  of  correspondence 
between  the  type  and  the  antitype  has  been  hitherto  over- 
looked. The  great  city  of  Babylon  commenced  with  the  erec- 
tion of  Babel,  and  the  builders  said,  "  Go  to,  let  us  build  us  a 
city,  and  a  tower  whose  top  may  reach  unto  heaven,  and  let 
us  make  us  a  name,  lest  we  be  scattered  abroad  upon  the  face 
of  the  whole  earth." '  Civil  unity  was  avowedly  the  end  de- 
signed by  these  architects.  Amongst  other  purposes  contem- 
plated by  the  famous  tower,  it  appears  to  have  been  intended 
to  serve  as  a  centre  of  Catholicity — a  great  rallying  point  or 
landmark — by  which  every  citizen  might  be  guided  home- 
wards when  he  lost  his  way  in  the  plain  of  Shinar.  In  the 
"  Pastor  of  Hermas,"  perhaps  the  first  work  written  in  Rome 
after  the  establishment  of  Prelacy,  the  Church  is  described 
under  the  similitude  of  a  tower !^  When  Hyginus  "estab- 
lished the  gradations,  '  the  hierarchy  at  once  assumed  that  ap- 
pearance. And  the  see  of  Peter,  the  centre  of  Catholic  unity, 
was  to  be  the  great  spiritual  landmark  to  guide  the  steps  of 
all  true  churchmen.  The  ecclesiastical  builders  prospered  for 
a  time  ;  but  when  Constantine  had  finished  a  new  metropolis 
in  the  East,  some  symptoms  of  disunion  revealed  themselves. 
When  the  Empire  was  afterward  divided,  jealousies  increased  ; 
the  builders  could  not  understand  one  another's  speech  ;  and 
the  Church  at  length  witnessed  the  great  schism  of  the  Greeks 
and  the  Latins.     In  due  time  the  Reformation  interfered  still 

'  Gen.  xi.  4.  '  Book  i.,  vision  iii.,  §  3,  etc. 


THE   ROMAN   BABEL.  523 

more  vexatiously  with  the  building  of  the  ecclesiastical  Babel. 
But  this  more  recent  schism  has  given  a  mighty  impulse  to 
the  cause  of  freedom,  of  civilization,  and  of  truth  ;  for  the 
Protestants,  scattered  abroad  over  the  face  of  the  whole  earth, 
have  been  spreading  far  and  wide  the  light  of  the  Gospel. 
The  builders  of  Babel  still  continue  their  work,  but  their 
boasted  unity  is  gone  forever  ;  and  now,  with  the  exception 
of  their  political  manoeuvring,  their  highest  achievements  are 
literally  in  the  department  of  stone  and  mortar.  They  may 
found  costly  edifices,  and  erect  spires  pointing,  like  the  tower 
of  Babel,  to  the  skies  ;  but  they  can  no  longer  reasonably 
hope  to  bind  together  the  liberated  nations  with  the  chains  of 
a  gigantic  despotism,  or  induce  worshippers  of  all  kindreds 
and  tongues  to  adopt  the  one  dead  language  of  Latin  super- 
stition. The  signs  of  the  times  indicate  that  the  remnant  of 
the  Catholic  workmen  must  soon  "  leave  off  to  build  the  city." 
The  final  overthrow  of  the  mystical  Babylon  will  usher  in  the 
millennium  of  the  Church,  and  the  present  success  of  Protes- 
tant missions  is  premonitory  of  the  approaching  doom  of  Rom- 
ish ritualism.  It  is  written  :  "  I  saw  another  angel  fly  in  the 
midst  of  heaven,  having  the  everlasting  Gospel  to  preach  unto 
them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  to  every  nation,  and  kindred, 
and  tongue,  and  people,  saying  with  a  loud  voice,  Fear  God, 
and  give  glory  to  him ;  for  the  hour  of  his  judgment  is  come  : 
and  worship  him  that  made  heaven,  and  earth,  and  the  sea, 
and  the  fountains  of  waters.  And  there  followed  another 
angel,  saying,  Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fallen,  that  great  city,  be- 
cause she  made  all  nations  drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of 
her  fornication." ' 

'  Rev.  xiv.  6-8. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

PRIMITIVE   EPISCOPACY  AND   PRESBYTERIAN   ORDINATION. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that,  except  in  a  few  great  cities 
where  there  were  several  Christian  congregations,  the  intro- 
duction of  Episcopacy  produced  a  very  slight  change  in  the 
appearance  of  the  ecclesiastical  community.  In  towns  and 
villages,  where  the  disciples  constituted  but  a  single  flock, 
they  had  commonly  only  one  teaching  elder ;  and  as,  in  ac- 
cordance with  apostolic  rule,'  this  laborer  in  the  word  and 
doctrine  was  deemed  worthy  of  double  honor,  he  was  already 
the  most  prominent  and  influential  member  of  the  brother- 
hood. The  new  arrangement  merely  clothed  him  with  the 
name  of  bishop,  and  somewhat  augmented  his  authority.  Hav- 
ing the  funds  of  the  Church  at  his  disposal,  he  had  special  influ- 
ence ;  and  though  he  could  not  well  act  without  the  sanction 
of  his  elders,  he  could  easily  contrive  to  negative  any  of  their 
resolutions  which  did  not  meet  his  approval. 

It  is  abundantly  clear  that  this  primitive  dignitary  was  or- 
dinarily the  pastor  of  only  a  single  congregation.  "  If,  before 
the  multitude  increase,  there  be  a  place  having  a  few  faithful 
men  in  it,  to  the  extent  of  twelve,  who  are  able  to  make  a 
dedication  to  pious  uses  for  a  bishop,  let  them  write  to  the 
Churches  round  about  the  place,"  says  an  ancient  canon,  "  that 
three  chosen  men  ....  may  come  to  examine  with  diligence 

him  who  has  been  thought  worthy  of  this  degree If  he 

has  not  a  wife,  it  is  a  good  thing ;  but  if  he  has  married  a  wife^ 
having  children,  let  him  abide  with  her,  continuing  steadfast 
in  every  doctrine,  able  to  explain  the  Scriptures  well." "  This 
humble  functionary  was  assisted  in  the  management  of  his 

'  1  Tim.  V.  17.         '  See  Bunsen's  "  Hippolytus,"  ii.  305,  and  iii.  35,  36. 
(524) 


PRIMITIVE    EPISCOPACY.  525 

little  flock  by  two  or  three  elders.  "  If  the  bishop  has  at- 
tended to  the  knowledge  and  patience  of  the  love  of  God," 
says  another  regulation,  "  let  him  ordain  two  presbyters,  when 
he  has  examined  them,  or  rather  three." '  The  bishop,  the 
elders,  and  the  deacons,  all  assembled  in  one  place  every 
Lord's  day  for  congregational  worship.  An  old  ecclesiastical 
law  accordingly  prescribes  the  following  arrangement :  "  Let 
the  seat  of  the  bishop  be  placed  in  the  midst,  and  let  the 
presbyters  sit  on  each  side  of  him,  and  let  the  deacons  stand 
by  them,  ....  and  let  it  be  their  care  that  the  people  sit 
with  all  quietness  and  order  in  the  other  part  of  the  Church."  '' 
Thus,  except  in  the  case  of  a  few  large  towns,  the  primitive 
bishop  was  simply  the  parochial  minister. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  second  century,  the  bishop  and  the 
teacher  were  designations  of  the  same  import.  Speaking  of 
those  at  the  head  of  the  Churches,  Irenaeus  describes  them  as 
distinguished  by  their  superior  or  inferior  ability  in  sermoniz- 
ing ; '  and  a  well-informed  writer,  who  flourished  as  late  as  the 
fourth  century,  mentions  preaching  as  the  bishop's  peculiar 
function.*  In  the  apostolic  age  every  one  who  had  popular 
gifts  was  permitted  to  edify  the  congregation  by  their  exer- 
cise ; '  and,  long  afterward,  any  elder  who  was  qualified  to 
speak  in  the  Church,  was  at  liberty  to  address  his  fellow-wor- 
shippers. When  Origen,  prior  to  his  ordination  as  a  presbyter, 
ventured  to  expound  the  Scriptures  publicly  at  the  request  of 
the  bishops  of  Palestine,  Demetrius,  his  own  ecclesiastical  supe- 
rior, denounced  his  conduct  as  irregular ;  but  the  parties  by 
whom  the  learned  Alexandrian  had  been  invited  to  lecture, 
boldly  vindicated  the  proceeding.  He  (Demetrius)  has  as- 
serted, said  they,  "  that  this  was  never  before  either  heard  or 
done,  that  laymen  should  deliver  discourses  in  the  presence  of 
bishops.  We  know  not  how  it  happens  that  he  is  here  evi- 
dently so  far  from  the  truth.     For,  indeed,  wherever  there  are 

'  Bunsen's  "  Hippolytus,"  iii.  36.  "  "  Apost.  Constit,"  ii.  57. 

'  Kai  avTE  6  rrdw  dwarog  kv  Tidyu  tuv  kv  Talg  EKKT^Tjaiaig  npoearuTcov,  erepa  tovtuv 
kpel  {ovdEig  yap  vTvep  tov  (iiSdaKalov)  ovte  6  aadEvfjq  kv  rcJ  16y<i)  kXaTTuaEi  t^v  napa- 
6oaiv. — Contra  Hcereses,  i.,  c.  10,  §  2. 

*  "  Optatus  adv.  Donat.,"  vii.  6.  '  i  Cor.  xiv.  5,  24,  26,  31. 


526  PRIMITIVE    EPISCOPACY. 

found  those  qualified  to  benefit  the  brethren,  they  are  ex- 
horted by  the  holy  bishops  to  address  the  people."  '  But  still 
the  bishop  himself  was  the  stated  and  ordinary  preacher ;  and 
when  he  was  sick  or  absent,  the  flock  could  seldom  expect  a 
sermon.  When  present,  he  always  administered  the  Lord's 
Supper  with  his  own  hands,  and  dispensed  in  person  the  rite 
of  baptism.  He  also  occupied  the  chair  at  the  meetings  of 
the  presbytery,  and  presided  at  the  ordination  of  the  elders 
and  deacons  of  his  congregation. 

Though  Christians  formed  but  a  fraction,  and  often  but  a 
small  fraction,  of  the  population,  their  bishops  were  thickly 
planted.  Thus  Cenchrea,  the  port  of  Corinth,  had  an  episco- 
pal overseer,"  as  well  as  Corinth  itself ;  the  bishop  of  Portus 
and  the  bishop  of  Ostia  were  only  two  miles  asunder;'  and  of 
the  eighty-seven  bishops  who  met  at  Carthage,  about  A.D.  256, 
to  discuss  the  question  of  the  rebaptism  of  heretics,  many,  such 
as  Mannulus,  Polianus,  Dativus,  and  Secundinus,^  were  located 
in  small  towns  or  villages.  Though,  probably,  some  of  these 
pastors  had  not  the  care  of  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  Chris- 
tian families,  each  had  the  same  rank  and  authority  as  the 
bishop  of  Carthage.  "  It  remains,"  said  Cyprian  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  council,  "  that  we  severally  declare  our  opinion  on 
this  same  subject,  judging  no  one,  nor  depriving  any  one  of 
the  right  of  communion  if  he  differ  from  us.  For  no  one  of 
us  sets  himself  up  as  a  bishop  of  bishops,  or  by  tyrannical  ter- 
ror forces  his  colleagues  to  a  necessity  of  obeying;  inasmuch 
as  very  bishop  in  the  free  use  of  his  liberty  and  power  has 
the  right  of  forming  his  own  judgment."  "  In  other  quarters 
of  the  Church  its  episcopal  guardians  were  equally  numerous. 

'  Euseb.  vi.  19.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  these  laymen,  having  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  were  thus  virtually  licensed  to  preach. 

"  "Apost.  Constit."  vii.  46.  There  was  a  Church  at  Cenchrea  in  the 
time  of  the  apostles.  Rom.  xvi.  i.  Strabo  calls  Cenchrea  a  village,  lib. 
viii. 

^  See  Bingham,  iii.  129. 

*  Cyprian,  "  Council  of  Carthage."  Girba,  Mileum,  Badias,  and  Carpi, 
the  sees  of  these  bishops,  were  all  small  places,  with  a  still  smaller  Chris- 
tian population. 

"Cyprian,  "Council  of  Carthage." 


ECCLESIASTICS  IN  SECULAR  OFFICES.  527 

Hence  it  is  said  of  the  famous  Paul  of  Samosata,  bishop  of 
Antioch,  that,  to  sustain  his  reputaion,  he  instigated  "  the 
bishops  of  the  adjacent  rural  districts  and  towns  "  to  praise 
him  in  their  addresses  to  the  people/  Even  so  late  as  the 
middle  of  the  third  century,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  greatest 
bishops  was  extremely  limited.  Cyprian  of  Carthage,  in  point 
of  position  the  second  prelate  in  the  Western  Church,  pre- 
sided over  only  eight  or  nine  presbyters ; '  and  Cornelius  of 
Rome,  confessedly  the  most  influential  ecclesiastic  in  Christen- 
dom, had  the  charge  of  probably  not  more  than  fourteen  con- 
gregations.^ 

There  were  commonly  several  elders  and  deacons  connected 
with  every  worshipping  society  ;  and  though  these,  as  well  as 
the  bishops,  began,  toward  the  close  of  the  second  century,  to 
be  called  clergymen,'  and  were  thus  taught  to  cherish  the  idea 
that  the  Lord  was  their  inheritance,  it  would  be  quite  a  mis- 
take to  infer  that  they  all  subsisted  on  their  official  income. 
Not  a  few  of  them  probably  derived  their  maintenance  from 
secular  employments — some  of  them  being  tradesmen  or  arti- 
sans, and  others  in  stations  of  greater  prominence.  Hyacin- 
thus,  an  elder  of  the  Church  of  Rome  in  the  time  of  bishop 
Victor,  appears  to  have  held  a  situation  in  the  Imperial  house- 
hold,' and  Tertullian  complains  that  persons  engaged  in  trades 
directly  connected  with  the  support  of  idolatry  were  promoted 
to  ecclesiastical  offices.^  There  was  a  time  when  even  an 
apostle  labored  as  a  tent-maker,  but  as  the  hierarchical  spirit 
acquired  strength,  and  as  the  Church  increased  in  wealth  and 

'  Euseb.  vii.  30. 

^  See  Sage's  "  Vindication  of  the  Principles  of  the  Cyprianic  Age,"  p. 
348.     Edit.,  London,  1701. 

^  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  i.,  chap,  v.,  pp.  323,  324. 

*  See  Bingham,  i.  41,  43. 

^  Bunsen's  "  Hippolytus,"  i.  129;  and  Wordsworth,  p.  257.  It  would 
appear  from  Celsus  that  not  a  few  of  the  Church  teachers  in  the  second 
century  supported  themselves  by  manual  labor.     See  Origen,  Opera,  i.  484. 

^  "  Adleguntur  in  ordinem  ecclesiasticum  artifices  idolorum." — De  Idolol- 
atria,  c.  vii.  Malchion,  one  of  the  presbyters  of  Antioch  in  the  time  of 
Paul  of  Samosata,  was  the  head  master  of  one  of  the  principal  schools  in 
the  place.     Euseb.  vii.  29. 


528  PRESBYTERIAN   ORDINATION. 

numbers,  there  was  a  growing  impression  that  all  its  office- 
bearers were  degraded  by  such  services.  Cyprian  speaks  with 
extreme  bitterness  of  a  deceased  presbyter  who  had  appointed 
a  brother  elder  the  executor  of  his  will,  declaring  that  the 
clergy  "  should  in  no  ways  be  called  off  from  their  holy  minis- 
trations, nor  tied  down  by  secular  troubles  and  business."  ' 
But  the  common  sense  of  the  Church  revolted  against  such 
high-flown  spiritualism,  as  in  many  districts  where  the  disciples 
were  still  few  and  indigent,  they  could  not  afford  a  suitable 
support  for  all  intrusted  with  the  performance  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal duties.  Hence,  before  the  recognition  of  Christianity  by 
Constantine,  even  bishops  in  some  countries  were  permitted 
by  trade  to  eke  out  a  scanty  maintenance.  "  Let  not  bishops, 
elders,  and  deacons  leave  their  places  for  the  sake  of  trading," 
says  a  council  held  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century, 
"  nor  travelling  about  the  provinces  let  them  be  found  dealing 
in  fairs.  However,  to  provide  a  living  for  themselves,  let  them 
send  either  a  son  or  a  freedman,  or  a  servant,  or  a  friend,  or 
any  one  else ;  and  if  they  wish  to  trade,  let  them  do  so  within 
their  province."^ 

It  is  clear,  from  the  New  Testament,  that,  in  the  apostolic 
age,  ordination  was  performed  by  "  the  laying  on  of  the  hands 
of  the  presbytery,"  and  this  mode  of  designation  to  the  minis- 
try continued  until  some  time  in  the  third  century.  We  are 
informed  by  the  most  learned  of  the  fathers,  in  a  passage  to 
which  the  attention  of  the  reader  has  already  been  invited,^  that 
"  even  at  Alexandria,  from  Mark  the  Evangelist  until  Heraclas 
and  Dionysius  the  bishops,  the  presbyters  were  always  in  the 
habit  of  naming  as  bishop  one  chosen  from  among  themselves 
and  placed  in  a  higher  degree,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  army 
make  an  emperor,  or  the  deacons  choose  from  among  them- 
selves one  whom  they  know  to  be  industrious,  and  call  him 
archdeacon."'     As  Jerome  here  mentions  various  important 

'  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixvi.,  p.  246.     In  after-times  the  bishop  himself  was  the 
grand-executor,  having  the  charge  of  all  the  wills  of  his  diocese  ! 
^  Council  of  Elvira,  a.d.  305,  i8th  canon. 
^  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap,  vi.,  p.  531. 
*  "Nam  et  Alexandria;  a  Marco  Evangelista  usque  ad  Hera:'am  et  Dio- 


PRESBYTERIAN   ORDINATION.  529 

facts  of  which  we  must  have  otherwise  remained  ignorant, 
and  as  this  statement  throws  much  light  on  the  ecclesiastical 
history  of  the  early  Church,  it  is  entitled  to  special  notice. 

In  the  letter  where  this  passage  occurs  the  writer  is  extolling 
the  dignity  of  presbyters,  and  endeavoring  to  show  that  they 
are  very  little  inferior  to  bishops.  He  admits,  indeed,  that, 
in  his  own  days,  they  had  ceased  to  ordain  ;  but  he  intimates 
that  they  once  possessed  the  right,  and  that  they  retained  it 
in  all  its  integrity  till  the  former  part  of  the  preceding  century. 
Some  have  thought  that  Jerome  has  here  expressed  himself 
indefinitely,  and  that  he  did  not  know  the  exact  date  at  which 
the  arrangement  he  describes  ceased  at  Alexandria.  But  his 
testimony,  when  fairly  analyzed,  can  scarcely  be  said  to  want 
precision  ;  for  he  obviously  speaks  of  Heraclas  and  Dionysius 
as  bishops  by  anticipation,  alleging  that  a  custom  which  an- 
ciently existed  among  the  elders  of  the  Egyptian  metropolis 
was  maintained  until  the  time  when  these  ecclesiastics,  who 
afterward  successively  occupied  the  episcopal  chair,  sat  to- 
gether in  the  presbytery.  The  period,  thus  pointed  out,  can 
be  easily  ascertained.  Demetrius,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  after 
a  long  official  life  of  forty-three  years,  died  about  A.D.  232,'  and 
it  is  well  known  that  Heraclas  and  Dionysius  were  both  mem- 
bers of  his  presbytery  toward  the  close  of  his  episcopal  ad- 
ministration. It  was,  therefore,  shortly  before  his  demise  that 
the  new  system  was  introduced.  In  certain  parts  of  the 
Church  the  arrangement  mentioned  by  Jerome  probably  con- 
tinued somewhat  longer.  Cyprian  hints  at  such  cases  of  ex- 
ception when  he  says  that  in  ''almost  all  the  provinces,"''  the 

nysium  Episcopos,  presbyteri  semper  unum  ex  se  electum,  in  excelsiori 
gradu  collocatum  Episcopum  nominabant ;  quomodo  si  exercitus  Impera- 
torem  facial ;  aut  Diaconi  eligant  de  se  quern  industrium  noverint,  et  Archi- 
diaconum  vocent." — Epist.,   ad  Evangelum. 

'  Heraclas  now  succeeded  him.  Tiie  immediate  successor  of  Heraclas 
was  Dionysius. 

'•'  "  Apud  nos  quoque  &\.fer-e  per  provinciasuniversastenetur." — Cyprian, 
Epist.  Ixviii.,  p.  256.  The  arrangement  of  which  Cyprian  speaks  was  now, 
perhaps,  pretty  generally  established  in  the  West,  but  he  may  have  under- 
stood, through  his  intercourse  with  Firmilian,  that  in  some  parts  of  the 
East  a  different  usage  still  prevailed. 

34 


530  THE   ELDERS   MADE   THE   BISHOP. 

neighboring  bishops  assembled,  on  the  occasion  of  an  episco- 
pal vacancy,  at  the  new  election  and  ordination.  In  a  few  of 
the  more  considerable  towns,  the  elders  still  continued  to 
nominate  their  president. 

When  the  erudite  Roman  presbyter  informs  us  that  "  even 
at  Alexandria  "  '  the  elders  formerly  made  their  own  bishop, 
his  language  implies  that  such  a  mode  of  creating  the  chief 
pastor  was  not  confined  to  the  Church  of  the  metropolis  of 
Egypt.  It  existed  wherever  Christianity  had  gained  a  foot- 
ing, and  he  mentions  this  particular  see,  partly,  because  of  its 
importance — being,  in  point  of  rank,  the  second  in  the  Em- 
pire—  and  partly,  perhaps,  because  the  remarkable  circum- 
stances in  its  history,  leading  to  the  alteration  which  he  speci- 
fies, were  known  to  all  his  well-informed  contemporaries.  Je- 
rome does  not  say  that  the  Alexandrian  presbyters  inducted 
their  bishop  by  imposition  of  hands,''  or  set  him  apart  to  his 
office  by  any  formal  ordination.  His  words  indicate  that  they 
did  not  recognize  the  necessity  of  any  special  right  of  investi- 
ture; that  they  made  the  bishop  by  election  ;  and  that,  when 
once  acknowledged  as  the  object  of  their  choice,  he  was  at  lib- 
erty to  enter  forthwith  on  the  performance  of  his  episcopal 
duties.  When  the  Roman  soldiers  made  an  emperor  they  ap- 
pointed him  by  acclamation,  and  the  cheers  which  issued  from 
their  ranks  as  he  stood  up  before  the  legions  and  as  he  was 
clothed  with  the  purple  by  one  of  themselves,  constituted  the 
ceremony  of  his  inauguration.     The  ancient  archdeacon  was 

'  "  Nam  et  Alexandrite." 

'^  Eutychius,  the  celebrated  patriarch  of  Alexandria  who  flourished  in  the 
beginning  of  the  tenth  centur)',  makes  this  assertion.  According  to  this 
writer  there  were  originally  twelve  presbyters  connected  with  the  Alexan- 
drian Church  ;  and,  when  the  patriarchate  became  vacant  they  elected  "  one 
of  the  twelve  presbyters,  on  whose  head  the  rctnaining  elcivn  laid  hands, 
and  blessed  him  and  created  him  patriarch." — See  the  orii^inal passai^e  in 
Seldens  IVorA's,  \\.,  c.  .\2i,  422  ;  London,  1726.  This  passage  furnishes  a 
remarkable  confirmation  of  the  testimony  of  Jerome  as  to  the  fact  that  the 
Alexandrian  presbyters  originally  made  their  bishops,  but  it  is  not  very  ac- 
curate as  to  the  details.  As  to  the  laying  on  of  hands  it  is  not  supported  by 
Jerome. 


PRESBYTERIAN   ORDINATION   AT   ROME.  53 1 

Still  one  of  the  deacons ; '  as  he  was  the  chief  almoner  of  the 
Church,  he  required  to  possess  tact,  discernment,  and  activity; 
and,  in  the  fourth  century,  he  was  nominated  to  his  office  by 
his  fellow-deacons.  Jerome  assures  us  that,  until  the  time  of 
Heraclas  and  Dionysius,  the  elders  made  a  bishop  just  in  the 
same  way  as  in  his  own  day  the  soldiers  made  an  emperor,  or 
as  the  deacons  chose  one  whom  they  knew  to  be  industrious, 
and  made  him  an  archdeacon. 

In  one  of  the  letters  purporting  to  have  been  written  by  Pi- 
us, bishop  of  Rome,  to  Justus  of  Vienne,  shortly  after  the  mid- 
dle of  the  second  century,  there  is  a  passage  which  supplies  a 
singularly  striking  confirmation  of  the  testimony  of  Jerome. 
Even  admitting  that  the  genuineness  of  this  epistle  can  not  be 
satisfactorily  established,  it  must  still  be  acknowledged  to  be 
a  very  ancient  document,  and  were  it  of  somewhat  later  date 
than  its  title  indicates,  it  should  at  least  be  received  as  repre- 
senting the  traditions  which  prevailed  respecting  the  ecclesias- 
tical arrangements  of  an  early  antiquity.  In  this  communica- 
tion Pius  speaks  of  his  episcopal  correspondent  of  Vienne  as 
"  constituted  by  the  brethren  and  clothed  with  the  dress  of  the 
bishops."*  By  "the  brethren,"  as  is  plain  from  another  part 
of  the  letter,'  he  understands  the  presbytery.  And  as  the  sol- 
diers made  a  sovereign  by  saluting  him  emperor,  and  arraying 
him  in  the  purple :  so  the  presbyters  made  a  president  by 
clothing  him  with  a  certain  piece  of  dress,  and  calling  him 
bishop.  Thus,  the  statement  of  Jerome  is  exactly  corrobora- 
ted by  the  evidence  of  this  witness. 

We  may  infer  from  the  letter  of  Pius  that  in  Gaul  and  Italy, 
as  well  as  in  Egypt,  the  elders  were  in  the  habit  of  making 
their  own  bishop.'  There  is  not  a  particle  of  evidence  to 
show  that  any  other  arrangement  originally  existed.  The 
declaration  of  so  competent  an  authority  as  Jerome,  backed 

'  The  case  is  different  with  the  modern   English  archdeacon  who  is  a 

presbyter. 

^  "A  fratribus  constitutus  et  colobio  episcoporum  vestitus." 

'  "  Saluta  onvie  collegium  fratrian,  qui  tecum  sunt  in  Domino." 

*  The  practice  continued  longer  at  Alexandria  than  at  Rome  and  various 

other  places. 


532  A   LESSON   OF   HUMILITY. 

by  the  attestation  of  this  ancient  epistle,  may  be  regarded  as 
perfectly  conclusive.'  But  other  proofs  of  the  same  fact  are 
not  wanting.  For  a  long  period  the  bishop  continued  to  be 
known  by  the  title  of  "the  elder  who  presides" — a  designation 
which  obviously  implies  that  he  was  still  only  one  of  the  presby- 
ters. When  the  Paschal  controversy  created  such  excitement, 
and  when  Victor  of  Rome  threatened  to  renounce  the  commun- 
ion of  those  who  held  views  different  from  his  own,  Irenseus  of 
Lyons  wrote  a  letter  of  remonstrance  to  the  haughty  church- 
man in  which  he  broadly  reminded  him  of  his  ecclesiastical 
position.  "  Those  presbyters  before  Soter  who  governed  the 
Church  over  which  you  now  preside,  I  mean,"  said  he, 
"Anicetus,  and  Pius,  Hyginus  with  Telesphorus  and  Xystus, 
neither  did  themselves  observe,  nor  did  they  permit  those 

after  them  to  observe  it But  \.\iQ>sQ  very  presbyters  h^- 

fore  you  who  did  not  observe  it,  sent  the  Eucharist  to  those 
of  Churches  which  did." '  Irenseus  here  endeavors  to  teach 
the  bishop  of  Rome  a  lesson  of  humility  by  reminding  him 
repeatedly  that  he  and  his  predecessors  were  but  presbyters. 

The  pastor  of  Lyons  speaks  even  still  more  distinctly  re- 
specting the  status  of  the  bishops  who  flourished  in  his  gen- 
eration. Thus,  he  says :  "  We  should  obey  those  presbyters 
in  the  Church  who  have  the  succession  from  the  apostles,  and 
who,  zuith  the  succession  of  the  episcopate,  have  received  the  cer- 

1  The  statement  of  Jerome  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  fact  that  the  senior 
elder  was  originally  the  president  or  bishop,  for  he  was  recognized  as  such 
by  mutual  agreement.  Neither  is  it  at  variance  with  the  idea  that  the  el- 
ders sometimes  made  a  selection  by  lot  out  of  three  of  their  number  pre- 
viously put  in  nomination.  Even  after  bishops  began  to  be  elected  by  gen- 
eral suffrage,  the  people  were  in  some  places  restricted  to  certain  candidates 
chosen  from  among  the  elders  by  lot.  Cyprian  apparently  refers  to  this  cir- 
cumstance when  he  says  that  he  was  chosen  by  "  the  judgment  of  God"  as 
well  as  by  the  vote  of  the  people.  Epist.  xl.,  p.  119.  The  people  of  Alex- 
andria, toward  the  close  of  the  third  and  beg-inning  of  the  fourth  centur)', 
were  restricted  to  certain  candidates.  See  pp.  302,  303,  Period  ii.,  sec.  i..  chap, 
iv.  Cornelius  of  Rome  is  said  to  have  been  made  bishop  by  "  the  judgment 
of  God  and  of  his  Christ  "  and  by  the  votes  of  the  people.  Cyprian,  Epist 
Hi.,  pp.  150,  151. 

'•^  Euseb.  V.  24. 


CHRISTIAN  MINISTERS  ORDAINED  BY  PRESBYTERS.        533 

tain  gift  of  truth  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Fa. 
ther :  but  we  should  hold  as  suspected  or  as  heretics  and  of 
bad  sentiments  the  rest  who  depart  from  the  principal  succes- 
sion, and  meet  together  wherever  they  please From  all 

such  we  must  keep  aloof,  but  we  must  adhere  to  those  who 
both  preserve,  as  we  have  already  mentioned,  the  doctrine  of 
the  apostles,  and  exhibit,  with  the  order  of  the  presbytery, 
sound  teaching  and  an  inoffensive  conversation."  '  "  The  or- 
der of  the  presbytery,"  obviously  signifies  the  official  charac- 
ter conveyed  by  "  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presby. 
tery,"  and  yet  such  was  the  ordination  of  those  who,  in  the 
time  of  Irenaeus,  possessed  "  the  succession  from  the  apos- 
tles" and  "the  succession  of  the  episcopate." 

Some  imagine  that  no  one  can  be  properly  qualified  to  ad- 
minister divine  ordinances  who  has  not  received  episcopal  or- 
dination, but  a  more  accurate  acquaintance  with  the  history 
of  the  early  Church  is  all  that  is  required  to  dissipate  the  de- 
lusion. The  preceding  statements  clearly  show  that,  for  up- 
wards of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  death  of  our 
Lord,  all  the  Christian  ministers  throughout  the  world  were 
ordained  by  presbyters.  The  bishops  themselves  were  of  "  the 
order  of  the  presbytery,"  and,  as  they  had  never  received 
episcopal  consecration,  they  could  only  ordain  as  presbyters. 
The  bishop  was,  in  fact,  nothing  more  than  the  chief  presby- 
ter,°  A  father  of  the  third  century  accordingly  observes, 
"  All  power  and  grace  are  established  in  the  Church  where 

^  "  Contra  Hsreses,"  iv.,  c.  26,  sees.  2,  4.  "  Quapropter  eis  qui  in  eccle- 
sia  sunt,  presbyteris  obaudire  oportet.  his  qui  successionem  habent  ab  apos- 
tolis,  sicut  ostendimus ;  qui  cum  episcopatus  successioite  charisma  veritatis 
certum  secundum  placitum  Patris  acceperunt ;  reliquos  vero,  qui  absistunt 
a  principal!  successione,  et  quocunque  loco  colligunt,  suspectos  habere  vel 

quasi  hsreticos  et  malas  sententise Ab  omnibus  igitur  talibus  ab- 

sistere  oportet;  ad  h  sere  re  vero  his  qui  et  apostolorum,  sicut  prasdiximus, 
doctrinam  custodiunt,  et  cum  p7'esbyterii  ordine  sermonem  sanum  et  conver- 
sationem  sine  offensa  praestant." 

"^  This  was  long  the  received  doctrine.  Thus,  the  author  of  the  "  Ques- 
tions on  the  Old  and  New  Testament  "  says,  "  Quid  est  episcopus  nisi  pri- 
mus presbyter  ?" — Aug.  Qucest.,  c.  loi. 


534  ^^^^    METHOD    OF   ORDAINING   A    BISHOP. 

elders  preside,  who  possess  the  power,  as  well  of  baptizing,  as 
of  confirming  and  ordaining."  ' 

An  old  ecclesiastical  law,  recently  presented  for  the  first 
time  to  the  English  reader,"  throws  much  light  on  a  portion 
of  the  history  of  the  Church  long  buried  in  great  obscurity. 
This  law  may  well  remind  us  of  those  remains  of  extinct 
classes  of  animals  which  the  naturalist  studies  with  so  much 
interest,  as  it  obviously  belongs  to  an  era  even  anterior  to 
that  of  the  so-called  apostolical  canons.'  Though  it  is  part  of 
a  series  of  regulations  once  current  in  the  Church  of  Ethiopia, 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  framed  in  Italy, 
and  that  its  authority  was  acknowledged  by  the  Church  of 
Rome  in  the  time  of  Hippolytus."  It  marks  a  transition 
period  in  the  history  of  ecclesiastical  polity,  and  whilst  it  in- 
directly confirms  the  testimony  of  Jerome  relative  to  the  cus- 
tom of  the  Church  of  Alexandria,  it  shows  that  the  state  of 
things  to  which  the  learned  presbyter  refers  was  now  super- 
seded by  another  arrangement.  This  curious  specimen  of  an- 
cient legislation  treats  of  the  appointment  and  ordination  of 
ministers.     "  The   bishop,"    says   this    enactment,   "  is  to  be 

elected  by  all  the  people And  they  shall  choose  ONE 

OF   THE   BISHOPS  AND  ONE  OF   THE  PRESBYTERS,   ....   AND 
THESE  SHALL  LAY  THEIR  HANDS  UPON  HIS  HEAD  AND  PRAY."  ' 

'  "  Omnis  potestas  et  gratia  in  ecclesia  constitua  sit,  ubi  praesident  ma- 
jores  natu,  qui  et  baptizandi  et  manum  imponendi  et  ordinandi  possident 
potestatem." — Firmilian,  Epist.,  Cyprian,  Opera,  p.  304. 

■^  See  Biinsen's  "  Hippolytus,"  ii.  351-357.  See  also  Fabricius,"  Biblioth. 
Grsecce,"  liber  v.,  p.  208.     Hamburg,  1723. 

\  The  earliest  was  framed  only  a  few  years  before  the  middle  of  the  third 
century.  In  a.d.  228,  several  bishops  united  in  the  ordination  of  the  pres- 
byter Origen  (see  Euseb.  vi.  8,  23) ;  whereas,  according  to  the  second  of 
these  canons,  a  presbyter  is  to  be  ordained  "  by  one  bishop."  They  were 
called  apostolical  perhaps  because  concocted  by  some  of  the  bishops  of 
the  so-called  apostolic  Churches. 

*  The  collection  to  which  it  belongs  bears  the  designation  of  the  "  Canons 
of  Abulides," — the  name  of  Hippolytus  in  Abyssinian,  as  their  calendat 
shows.  Bunsen,  ii.  352.  The  canons  edited  by  Hippolytus  were,  no  doubt, 
at  one  time  acknowledged  by  the  Western  Church. 

■■  Hansen's  "  Hippolytus,"  iii.  43,  and  "  Analecta  Antenicaena,"  iii.  415. 


AN  ANCIENT  BISHOP  AND  A  MODERN  PRELATE.  535 

Here,  to  avoid  the  confusion  arising  from  a  whole  crowd  of 
individuals  imposing  hands  in  ordination,  two  were  selected  to 
act  on  behalf  of  the  assembled  office-bearers  ;  and,  that  the 
parties  entitled  to  officiate  might  be  fairly  represented,  the 
deputies  were  to  be  a  bishop  and  a  presbyter.'  The  canon 
illustrates  the  jealousy  with  which  the  presbyters  in  the  early 
part  of  the  third  century  still  guarded  some  of  their  rights 
and  privileges.  In  the  matter  of  investing  others  with  Church 
authority,  they  yet  maintained  their  original  position,  and 
though  many  bishops  might  be  present  when  another  was  in- 
ducted into  office,  they  would  permit  only  one  of  the  number 
to  unite  with  one  of  themselves  in  the  ceremony  of  ordination. 
Some  at  the  present  day  do  not  hesitate  to  assert  that  presby- 
ters have  no  right  whatever  to  ordain,  but  this  canon  supplies 
evidence  that  in  the  third  century  they  were  employed  to  or- 
dain bishops. 

It  thus  appears  that  the  bishop  of  the  ancient  Church  was 
very  different  from  the  dignitary  now  known  by  the  same 
designation.  The  primitive  bishop  had  often  but  two  or  three 
elders,  and  sometimes  a  single  deacon,*  under  his  jurisdiction : 
the  modern  prelate  has  frequently  the  oversight  of  several 
hundreds  of  ministers.  The  ancient  bishop,  surrounded  by 
his  presbyters,  preached  ordinarily  every  Sabbath  to  his  whole 
flock:  the  modern  bishop  may  spend  an  entire  lifetime  with- 
out addressing  a  single  sermon,  on  the  Lord's  day,  to  many  who 
are  under  his  episcopal  supervision.  The  early  bishop  had  the 
care  of  a  parish :  the  modern  bishop  superintends  a  diocese. 
The  elders  of  the  primitive  bishop  were  not  unfrequently 
decent  tradesmen  who  earned  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of 
their  brow :  ^  the  presbyters  of  a  modern  prelate   have   gen- 

*  Eutychius  intimates  that  the  Alexandrian  presbyters  continued  to  ordain 
their  own  bishop  until  the  time  of  the  Council  of  Nice.  It  is  not  improb- 
able that,  until  then,  some  of  them  continued  to  take  part  in  the  ordination, 
and  the  statement  of  the  Alexandrian  patriarch  may  be  so  far  correct. 

'^  See  Bunsen,  iii.  45. 

'  Where  the  bishop,  as  in  the  case  contemplated  in  a  canon  quoted  in  the 
text,  had  to  depend  for  his  official  income  on  the  contributions  of  twelve 
families,  it  is  plain  that  the  elders  could  expect  no  remuneration  for  their 


536  THE   ANCIENT   BISHOP. 

erally  each  the  charge  of  a  congregation,  and  are  supposed  to 
be  entirely  devoted  to  sacred  duties.  Even  the  ancient  city 
bishop  had  but  a  faint  resemblance  to  his  modern  namesake. 
He  was  the  most  laborious  city  minister,  and  the  chief  preacher. 
He  commonly  baptized  all  who  were  received  into  the  Church, 
and  dispensed  the  Eucharist  to  all  the  communicants.  He 
was,  in  fact,  properly  the  minister  of  an  overgrown  parish 
who  required  several  assistants  to  supply  his  lack  of  service. 

The  foregoing  testimonies  likewise  show  that  the  doctrine 
of  apostolical  succession,  as  now  commonly  promulgated,  is 
utterly  destitute  of  any  sound  historical  basis.  According  to 
some,  no  one  is  duly  qualified  to  preach  and  to  dispense  the  sac- 
raments whose  authority  has  not  been  transmitted  from  the 
Twelve  by  an  unbroken  series  of  episcopal  ordinations.  But 
it  has  been  demonstrated  that  episcopal  ordinations,  properly 
so  called,  originated  only  in  the  third  century,  and  that  even 
the  bishops  of  Rome,  who  flourished  prior  to  that  date, 
were  "  of  the  order  of  the  presbytery."  All  the  primitive 
bishops  received  nothing  more  than  presbyterian  ordination. 
It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  transmission  of 
spiritual  power  from  the  apostles  through  an  unbroken  series 
of  episcopal  ordinations  flows  from  sheer  ignorance  of  the 
actual  constitution  of  the  early  Church. 

But  the  arrangements  now  described  were  gradually  sub- 
verted by  episcopal  encroachments,  and  a  separate  chapter 
must  be  devoted  to  the  illustration  of  the  progress  of  Prelacy. 

services.  As  the  hierarchy  advanced  these  ruling  elders  disappeared. 
Hence  Hilary  says,  "  The  synagogue,  and  afterwards  the  Church,  had 
elders,  without  whose  counsel  nothing  was  done  in  the  Church,  which,  by 
what  negligence  it  grew  into  disuse  I  know  not  ;  unless,  perhaps,  by  the 
sloth,  or  rather  by  the  pride  of  the  teachers,  while  they  alone  wished  to  ap- 
pear something." — Comment,  on  i  Tim,  v.  I.  Some  late  writers  have  con- 
tended that  these  eiders  {seniores)  were  not  ecclesiastical  officers  at  all, 
but  civil  magistrates  of  municipal  corporations  peculiar  to  Africa.  It  must, 
however,  be  recollected  that  Hilary  was  a  Roman  deacon  of  the  fourth 
century,  and  that  he  speaks  of  them  as  belonging  to  the  Church  before  the 
civil  establishment  of  Christianity. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  PRELACY. 

We  can  not  tell  when  the  president  of  the  presbytery  began 
to  hold  office  for  life ;  but  it  is  evident  that  the  change,  at 
whatever  period  it  occurred,  must  have  added  considerably  to 
his  power.  The  chairman  of  any  court  is  the  individual  through 
whom  it  is  addressed,  and  without  whose  signature  its  pro- 
ceedings can  not  be  properly  authenticated.  He  acts  in  its 
name,  and  he  stands  forth  as  its  representative.  He  may, 
theoretically,  possess  no  more  power  than  any  of  the  other 
members  of  the  judicatory,  and  he  may  be  bound,  by  the  most 
stringent  laws,  simply  to  carry  out  the  decisions  of  their  united 
wisdom  ;  but  his  very  position  gives  him  influence  ;  and,  if  he 
holds  office  for  life,  that  influence  may  soon  become  formid- 
able. If  he  is  not  constantly  kept  in  check  by  the  vigilance 
and  determination  of  those  with  whom  he  is  associated,  he 
may  insensibly  trench  upon  their  rights  and  privileges.  In 
the  second  century  the  moderator  of  the  city  presbytery  was 
invariably  a  man  advanced  in  years,  who,  instead  of  being 
watched  with  jealousy,  was  regarded  with  aff"ectionate  vener- 
ation ;  and  it  is  not  strange  if  he  was  often  permitted  to 
stretch  his  authority  beyond  the  exact  range  of  its  legitimate 
exercise. 

Evidence  has  already  been  adduced  to  show  that,  on  the 
»rise  of  Prelacy,  the  presidential  chair  was  no  longer  inherited 
by  the  members  of  the  city  presbytery  in  the  order  of  seniority. 
The  individuals  considered  most  competent  for  the  situation 
were  nominated  by  their  brethren  ;  and  as  the  Church,  espe- 
cially in  great  towns,  was  sadly  distracted  by  the  machinations 
of  the  Gnostics,  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  arm  the  moder- 

(537) 


538  GROWTH    (^F   PRELACY. 

ator  with  additional  authority.  As  a  matter  of  necessity,  the 
official  who  was  furnished  with  these  new  powers  required  a 
new  name ;  for  the  title  president,  by  which  he  was  already 
known,  and  which  continued  long  afterward  in  current  use,' 
did  not  now  fully  indicate  his  importance.  It  was,  therefore, 
gradually  supplanted  by  the  designation  bishop,  or  overseer. 
Whilst  this  functionary  was  nominated  by  the  presbyters,  he 
might  be  also  set  aside  by  them,  so  that  he  felt  it  necessary  to 
consult  their  wishes  and  to  use  his  discretionary  power  with 
modesty  and  moderation ;  but,  when  elected  by  general  suf- 
frage his  authority  was  forthwith  established  on  a  broader  and 
firmer  foundation.  He  was  now  emphatically  the  man  of  the 
people ;  and  from  this  date  he  possessed  an  influence  with 
which  the  presbytery  itself  was  incompetent  to  grapple. 

As  early  as  the  middle  of  the  second  century  the  president, 
at  least  in  some  places,  was  intrusted  with  the  chief  manage- 
ment of  the  funds  of  the  Church  ; '  and  probably,  about  fifty 
years  afterward,  a  large  share  of  its  revenues  was  appropriated 
to  his  personal  maintenance.^  His  superior  wealth  soon  added 
immensely  to  his  influence.  He  was  thus  enabled  to  maintain 
a  higher  position  in  society  than  any  of  his  brethren ;  and  he 
was  at  length  regarded  as  the  great  fountain  of  patronage  and 
preferment.  Long  before  Christianity  enjoyed  the  sanction 
of  the  State,  the  chief  pastors  of  the  great  cities  began  to 
attract  attention  by  their  ostentatious  display  of  secular 
magnificence.  Origen,  who  flourished  in  the  former  half  of 
the  third  century,  strongly  condemns  their  vanity  and  ambi- 
tion ;  and  though  his  ascetic  temperament  prompted  him  to 
indulge  somewhat  in  the  language  of  exaggeration,  the  testi- 
mony of  so  respectable  a  witness  can  not  be  rejected  as  untrue. 
"  We,"  says  he,  "proceed  so  far  in  the  affectation  of  pomp 
and  state,  as  to  outdo   even  bad  rulers  among  the  pagans ; 

'  Thus  Firmilian  speaks  of  "  seniores  et  prcBpositi,"  and  of  the  Church 
"ubi  prcEsideni  majores  natu." — Cyprian,  Opera,  pp.  302  and  304. 

'  Justin  Matryr,  Opera,  p.  99. 

'  In  the  days  of  Orij^en  the  episcopal  office  was  not  unfrcquently  coveted 
for  its  wealth.  Origen,  Opera,  iii.  p.  501.  See  also  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixiv.. 
p.  240. 


PRIDE   AND   POMP   OF   THE   CITY   BISHOPS.  539 

and,  like  the  emperors,  surround  ourselves  with  a  guard  that 
we  may  be  feared  and  made  difficult  of  access,  particularly  to 
the  poor.  And  in  many  of  our  so-called  Churches,  especially 
in  the  large  tozvns,  may  be  found  presiding  officers  of  the 
Church  of  God  who  would  refuse  to  own  even  the  best  among 
the  disciples  of  Jesus  while  on  earth  as  their  equals."  '  In 
these  remarks  the  writer  had  doubtless  a  particular  reference 
to  his  own  Church  of  Alexandria ;  but  it  is  well  known  that 
elsewhere  some  bishops  in  the  third  century  assumed  a  very 
lofty  bearing.  ■  It  is  related  of  the  celebrated  Paul  of  Samosata, 
the  bishop  of  Antioch,  that  he  acted  as  a  secular  judge,  that 
he  appeared  in  public  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  servants,  and 
that  he  took  special  pleasure  in  pomp  and  parade  ;  and  yet, 
had  he  not  lapsed  into  heresy,  his  overweening  pride  would 
not  have  brought  down  upon  him  the  vengeance  of  ecclesias- 
tical discipline.  In  the  third  century  the  chief  pastor  of  the 
Western  metropolis  was  known  to  the  great  officers  of  govern- 
ment, and  perhaps  to  the  Emperor  himself.  Decius  must  have 
regarded  the  Roman  bishop  as  a  formidable  personage  when  he 
declared  that  he  would  sooner  tolerate  a  rival  candidate  for  the 
throne,  and  when  he  proclaimed  his  determination  to  annihi- 
late the  very  office." 

It  was  not  strange  that  dignitaries  who  affected  90  much 
state  soon  contrived  to  surround  themselves  with  a  whole 
host  of  new  officials.  Within  little  more  than  a  century  after 
the  rise  of  Prelacy  the  number  of  grades  of  ecclesiastics  was 
nearly  trebled.  In  addition  to  the  bishop,  the  presbyters, 
and  the  deacons,  there  were  also,  in  A.D.  251,  in  the  Church 
of  Rome,  lectors,  sub-deacons,  acolyths,  exorcists,  and  jani- 
tors.' The  lectors,  who  read  the  Scriptures  to  the  congrega- 
tion *  and  who  had  charge  of  the  sacred  manuscripts,  attract 
our  attention  as  distinct  office-bearers  about  the  close  of  the 

'  Comment,  in  Matt.,  Opera,  iii.  p.  723. 

'^  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  i.,  chap,  v.,  p.  322. 

'  Euseb.  vi.  43. 

*  Tertullian,  "  Prasscrip.  Hasret."  c.  41.  This  office,  even  in  the  fourth 
century,  was  often  committed  to  mere  children — a  sad  proof  that  the  im- 
portance of  reading  the  Word  effectively  was  not  duly  appreciated. 


540  ^isHors  ciiosEX  by  the  people. 

second  century.  The  sub-deacons  had  the  care  of  the  sacra- 
mental cups  ;  the  acolyths  attended  to  the  lamps  of  the  sacred 
edifice ;  the  exorcists '  professed  by  their  prayers  to  expel 
evil  spirits  out  of  the  bodies  of  those  about  to  be  baptized  ; 
and  the  janitors  performed  the  more  humble  duties  of  porters 
or  door-keepers.  At  a  subsequent  period  each  of  these 
functionaries  was  initiated  into  ofifice  by  a  special  form  of 
ordination  or  investiture.  It  was  laid  down  as  a  principle 
that  no  one  could  regularly  become  a  bishop  who  had  not 
previously  passed  through  all  these  inferior  orders ; '  but 
when  the  multitude  wished  all  at  once  to  elevate  a  layman  to 
the  rank  of  a  bishop  or  a  presbyter,  ecclesiastical  routine  was 
compelled  to  yield  to  the  pressure  of  popular  enthusiasm.' 

The  great  city  in  which  Prelacy  originated  was  the  place 
where  these  new  ofifices  made  their  first  appearance.  Rome, 
true  to  her  mission  as  "  the  mother  of  the  Catholic  Church," 
conceived  and  brought  forth  nearly  all  the  peculiarities  of  the 
Catholic  system.  The  lady  seated  on  the  seven  hills  was 
already  regarded  with  great  admiration,  and  surrounding 
Churches  silently  copied  the  arrangements  of  their  Imperial 
parent.  In  the  East,  at  least  one  of  the  orders  instituted  by 
the  great  Western  prelate,  that  is,  the  order  of  acolyths,  was 
not  adopted  for  centuries  afterward.^ 

The  city  bishops  were  well  aware  of  the  vast  accession  of 
influence  they  acquired  in  consequence  of  their  election  by  the 
people,  and  did  not  fail  to  insist  upon  the  circumstance  when 
desirous  to  illustrate  their  ecclesiastical  title.  Any  one  who 
peruses  the  letters  of  Cyprian  may  remark  the  frequency,  as 
well  as  the  transparent  satisfaction,  with  which  he  refers  to 
the  mode  of  his  appointment.  Who,  he  seems  to  say,  could 
doubt  his  right  to  act  as  bishop  of  Carthage,  seeing  that  he 
had  been  chosen  by  "the  suffrage  of  the  whole  fraternity" — 

'  Origen  makes  mention  of  them,  Opera,  ii.  p.  453  ;  and  Firmilian,  Cyprian 
Epist.  Ixv.,  p.  306. 

"  Cyprian,  Epist.  lii.,  p.  150. 

'  As  in  the  case  of  Fabian  of  Rome.     Euseb.  vi.  29. 

*  Bingham,  i.  356,  359, 


INTERFERENCE  WITH  THE  RIGHTS  OF  THE  PEOPLE.      54I 

by  "  the  vote  of  the  people  "  ?'  The  members  of  the  Church 
enthusiastically  acknowledged  such  appeals  to  their  sympathy 
and  support,  and  in  cases  of  emergency  promptly  rallied  round 
the  individuals  whom  they  had  themselves  elevated  to  power. 
But,  as  all  the  other  Church  officers  were  likewise  chosen  by 
common  suffrage,  the  bishops  soon  betrayed  an  anxiety  to  ap- 
propriate the  distinction,  and  began,  under  various  pretexts, 
to  interfere  with  the  free  exercise  of  the  popular  franchise.  In 
one  of  his  epistles  Cyprian  excuses  himself  to  the  Christians 
of  Carthage  because  he  had  ventured  to  ordain  a  reader  with- 
out their  approval.  He  pleads  that  the  peculiar  circumstances 
of  the  case  and  the  extraordinary  merits  of  the  candidate  must 
be  accepted  as  his  apology.  "  In  clerical  ordinations,"  says 
he,  "my  custom  is  to  consult  you  bcforeJiand,  dearest  brethren, 
and  in  common  deliberation  to  weigh  the  character  and  merits 
of  each.  But  testimonies  of  men  need  not  be  awaited  when 
anticipated  by  the  sentence  of  God."  *  The  sanction  of  the 
people  should  have  been  obtained  before  the  ordination  ;  but 
as  persecution  now  raged,  it  is  suggested  that  it  was  found 
inconvenient  to  lay  the  matter  before  them  ;  and  Cyprian  ar- 
gues that  the  informality  was  pardonable,  inasmuch  as  the  Al- 
mighty himself  had  given  His  suffrage  in  favor  of  the  new 
lector;  for  Aurelius,  though  only  a  youth,  had  nobly  submit- 
ted to  the  torture  rather  than  renounce  the  Gospel. 

The  ordination  of  Aurelius  under  such  circumstances  was 
not,  however,  a  solitary  case  ;  and  there  is  certainly  something 
suspicious  in  the  frequency  with  which  the  bishop  of  Carthage 
apologizes  to  the  clergy  and  people  for  neglecting  to  consult 
them  on  the  appointment  of  Church  officers.  In  another  of 
his  letters  he  announces  to  the  presbyters  and  deacons  that 
"  on  an  urgent  occasion^'  he  had  "  made  Saturus  a  reader,  and 
Optatus,  the  confessor,  a  sub-deacon." '  Again,  he  tells  the 
same  parties,  and  "the  whole  people,"  that  "  Celerinus,  re- 
nowned alike  for  his  courage  and  his  character,  has  been  joined 
to  the  clergy,  not  by  human  suffrage,  but  by  the  divine  favor  "/ 

^  Cyprian,  Epist.lv.,  pp.  177,  178;  xl.,  pp.  119,  120. 

*  Epist.  xxxiii.,  p.  105.  '  Epist.  xxiv.,  pp.  79,  80. 

*■  Epist.  xxxiv.,  pp.  107,  108. 


542  ORDINATION   BY  BISHOPS. 

and  at  another  time  he  informs  them  that  he  had  been  "  ad- 
monished and  instructed  by  a  divine  vouchsafcment  to  enroll 
Numidicus  in  the  number  of  the  Carthaginian  presbyters."  ' 
These  cases  were  afterward  quoted  as  precedents  for  the  non- 
observance  of  the  law ;  and  from  time  to  time  new  pretences 
were  discovered  for  evading  its  provisions.  In  this  way  the 
rights  of  the  people  were  gradually  abridged  ;  and  in  the  course 
of  two  or  three  centuries,  the  bishops  almost  entirely  ignored 
their  interference  in  the  election  of  presbyters  and  deacons,  as 
•well  as  of  the  inferior  clergy. 

New  canons  relative  to  ordination  were  promulgated  about 
the  time  when  the  city  presbyters  ceased  to  have  the  exclusive 
right  of  electing  their  own  bishop.  The  altered  circumstances 
of  the  Church  led  to  the  establishment  of  these  regulations. 
The  election  of  the  chief  pastor  of  a  great  town  was  often  a 
scene  of  much  excitement,  and  when  several  of  the  presbyters 
were  candidates  for  the  office,  it  was  obviously  unseemly  that 
any  of  them  should  preside  on  the  occasion.  It  was  accord- 
ingly arranged  that  some  of  the  neighboring  bishops  should 
be  present  to  superintend  the  proceedings.  The  successful 
candidate  now  began  to  be  formally  invested  with  his  new 
dignity  by  the  imposition  of  hands ;  and  at  first,  perhaps,  one 
of  the  bishops,  assisted  by  one  of  the  presbyters  of  the  place, 
performed  this  ceremony.''  But  the  presbyters  soon  ceased  to 
officiate  at  the  ordination.  At  the  election,  the  people  and  the 
clergy  sometimes  took  opposite  sides  ;  and,  in  the  contest,  the 
ecclesiastical  party  was  not  unfrequently  completely  overborne. 
It  occasionally  happened,  as  in  the  case  of  Cyprian,'  that  one  of 
the  presbyters  was  chosen  in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  the 

'  Epist.  XXV.,  p.  Ill, 

*  Bishops  and  presbyters  continued  to  ordain  bishops  in  the  time  of  Ori- 
gen.  His  "  Commentaries  on  Matthew,"  written,  according  to  his  Bene- 
dictine editor,  in  A.D.  245  (see  Delarue's  "  Origen,"  iii.  Prasf )  speak  of 
bishops  and  presbyters  "  committing  whole  churches  to  unfit  persons  and 
constituting  incompetent  governors." — Opera,  iii.,  p.  753. 

^  It  would  appear  that  the  five  presbyters  who  opposed  Cyprian  consti- 
tuted the  majority  of  the  presbytery.  Cyprian,  Epist.  xl.,  pp.  119,  120. 
See  also  Sage's  "  Vindication  of  the  I'rinciplesof  iheCyprianic  Age,"  p.  348. 


ORDINATION   BY   PRESBYTERS.  543 

majority  of  the  presbytery;  or,  as  in  the  case  of  Fabian  of 
Rome,'  that  a  layman  was  all  at  once  elevated  to  the  episco- 
pal chair;  and,  at  such  times,  the  disappointed  presbyters  did 
not  care  to  join  in  the  inauguration.  The  bishops  availed 
themselves  of  the  pretexts  thus  furnished  to  dispense  with 
their  services  altogether.  At  length  the  power  of  admitting 
to  the  ministry  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  began  to  be  chal- 
lenged as  the  peculiar  prerogative  of  the  episcopal  order. 

In  many  places — perhaps  before  the  middle  of  the  third 
century — elders  were  no  longer  permitted  to  take  part  in  the 
consecration  of  bishops ;  but  Prelacy  had  not  yet  completely 
established  itself  upon  the  ruins  of  the  more  ancient  polity. 
Sometimes  the  presbytery  itself  still  discharged  the  functions 
of  the  bishop.  After  the  martyrdom  of  Fabian  in  A.D.  250, 
the  Church  of  Rome  remained  upwards  of  a  year  under  its 
care,°  as  the  see  was  meanwhile  vacant ;  and  about  the  same 
period  we  find  Cyprian,  when  in  exile,  requesting  his  presby- 
ters and  deacons  to  execute  both  his  duties  and  their  own.' 
It  was  still  admitted  that  presbyters  were  competent  to  ordain 
presbyters  and  deacons,  as  well  as  to  confirm  and  to  baptize; 
and  the  bishop  continued  to  recognize  them  as  his  "  colleagues  " 
and  his  '■'■  fellozv-presbyters.'' "  It  is  clear,  however,  that  the  re- 
lations between  them  and  their  episcopal  chief  were  now  very 
vaguely  defined,  and  that  the  ambiguous  position  of  the  par- 
ties led  to  mutual  complaints  of  ambition  and  usurpation. 
The  Epistles  of  Cyprian  supply  evidence  that  the  bishop  of 
Carthage,  during  a  great  part  of  his  episcopate,  was  engaged 
with  his  presbyters  in  a  struggle  for  power; '  and  though  he 
asserted  that  he  was  contending  for  nothing  more  than  his 
legitimate  authority,  he  was  sometimes  obliged  to  abate  his 
pretensions.     In  one  case  he  complains  that,   "  without   his 

'  Euseb.  vi.  29. 

°  Cyprian,  Epist.  xxxi.,  pp.  99,  100.  '  Cyprian,  Epist.  iv.,  p.  31. 

*  Cyprian,  Epist.  xxxiii.,  p.  106  ;  xxxiv.,  p.  107  ;  Iviii.,  p.  207  ;  Ixxi.,  p.  271  ; 
Ixxvii.,  p.  327.     Euseb.  vii.  5. 

'"  Thus  we  find  him  going  so  far  as  to  complain  that  his  presbyters  "  with 
contempt  and  dishonor  of  the  bishop  arrogate  sole  authority  to  themselves." 
— Epist.  ix.,  p.  48. 


544  COUNTRY   BISHOPS   FORBIDDEN   TO   ORDAIN. 

permission  or  knowledge,"  his  presbyter  Novatus,  "  of  his  own 
factiousness  and  ambition  "  had  "  made  Felicissimus,  his  fol- 
lower, a  deacon";'  but  still  he  does  not  venture  to  impeach 
the  validity  of  the  act,  or  refuse  to  recognize  the  standing  of 
the  new  ecclesiastic.  Felicissimus  seems  to  have  been  or- 
dained in  a  small  meeting-house  in  the  neighborhood  of  Car- 
thage ;  and  as  Novatus,  who  probably  presided  on  the 
occasion,  proceeded  in  conjunction  with  the  majority  of  the 
presbytery,  they  no  doubt  considered  that,  under  these  circum- 
stances, the  sanction  of  the  bishop  was  by  no  means  indispen- 
sable. The  manifestation  of  such  a  spirit  of  independence 
was,  however,  exceedingly  galling  to  their  imperious  prelate. 

From  the  manner  in  which  Cyprian  expresses  himself  we 
may  infer  that  he  would  not  have  been  dissatisfied  had  Novatus 
and  the  elders  who  acted  with  him  obtained  \\\'s,  permission  to 
ordain  the  deacon  Felicissimus.  But  at  this  period  the  bishops 
were  beginning  to  look  with  extreme  jealousy  on  all  presby- 
terian  ordinations,  and  were  commencing  a  series  of  encroach- 
ments on  the  rights  of  their  episcopal  brethren  in  rural  districts. 
These  country  bishops,'  who  were  ministers  of  single  congrega- 
tions, and  who  were  generally  poor  and  uninfluential,  soon  suc- 
cumbed to  the  great  city  dignitaries.  By  a  council  held  at  An- 
cyra  in  A.D.  314,  or  very  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  Diocle- 
tian persecution,  they  were  forbidden  to  perform  duties  which 
they  had  hitherto  been  accustomed  to  discharge,  for  one  of  its 
canons  declares  that  "  country  bishops  must  not  ordain  pres- 
byters or  deacons  ;  neither  must  city  presbyters  in  another  par- 
ish without  the  written  permission  of  the  bishop." ' 

This  canon  illustrates  the  strangely  anomalous  condition  of 
the  Church  at  the  period  of  its  adoption.     It  takes  no  notice 

'  Epist.  xlix.,  p.  143.  See  Neander's  "General  History,"  i.  307, and  Bur- 
ton's "  Lectures  on  the  Ecc.  Hist,  of  the  First  Three  Centuries,"  ii.  331. 
Burton  repudiates  the  attempts  of  Bingham  and  others  to  explain  away 
this  proceeding. 

■^  They  are  called  so  for  the  first  time  in  the  Council  of  Ancyra.  They 
had  before  always  been  called  simply  bishops.  It  has  been  remarked  that 
we  never  find  any  chorepiscopi  among  the  African  bishops,  though  many  ot 
them  occupied  as  humble  a  position  as  those  so  designated  elsewhere. 

^  Canon  xiii.,  "  Canones  Apjst.  et  Concil.  Berolini,"  1839. 


COUNTRY   BISHOPS   AND   CITY   P  cESBYTERS.  545 

of  country  elders,  as  the  proceedings  of  such  an  humble  class  of 
functionaries  awakened  no  jealousy ;  and  it  degrades  country 
bishops,  who  unquestionably  belonged  to  the  episcopal  order, 
by  placing  them  in  a  position  inferior  to  that  of  city  presbyters. 
Sixty  years  before,  or  in  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  three 
of  these  country  bishops  were  deemed  competent  to  ordain  a 
bishop  of  Rome ; '  but  now  they  are  deprived  of  the  right  of 
ordaining  even  elders  or  deacons.  It  is  easy  to  understand  why 
city  presbyters  were  still  permitted,  under  certain  conditions, 
to  exercise  this  privilege.  As  they  constituted  the  council  of 
the  city  chief  pastor,  their  influence  was  considerable ;  and  as 
they  had,  till  a  recent  date,  been  accustomed  even  to  take  part 
in  his  own  consecration,  it  was  deemed  inexpedient  to  tempt 
so  formidable  a  class  of  churchmen  to  make  common  cause 
with  the  country  bishops  by  stripping  both  at  once  of  their 
ancient  prerogatives.  The  country  bishops,  as  the  weaker 
party,  were  first  subjected  to  a  process  of  spoliation.  But  the 
recognition  of  Christianity  by  Constantine  gave  an  immense 
impulse  to  the  progress  of  the  hierarchy,  and  the  city  presby- 
ters were  soon  afterward  deprived  of  the  privilege  now  wrested 
from  the  country  bishops. 

The  current  of  events  had  placed  the  Church,  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  third  century,  in  a  position  which  it  could  not  long 
maintain.  As  the  growth  of  Christianity  in  towns  was  steady 
and  rapid,  the  bishop  there  rose  quickly  into  wealth  and  power ; 
but,  among  the  comparatively  poor  and  thinly-scattered  popu- 
lation of  the  country,  his  condition  remained  nearly  stationary. 
When  Cyprian,  in  A.D.  256,  addressed  the  eighty-seven  bishops 
assembled  in  the  Council  of  Carthage,  and  told  them  that  they 
were  all  on  an  equality,  he  might  have  felt  that  the  doctrine 
of  episcopal  parity,  as  then  understood,  must  be  given  up  as 
indefensible  if  assailed  by  the  skill  of  a  vigorous  logician.  Who 
could  believe  that  the  bishop  of  Carthage  held  exactly  the  same 
official  rank  as  every  one  of  his  episcopal  auditors?  He  was 
the  chief  pastor  of  a  flourishing  metropolis ;  he  had  several 
congregations  under  his  care,  and  several  of  his  presbyters  were 

'  In  the  case  of  Novatian.    Euseb.  vi.  43. 
35 


54^  RISE   OF   METROrOLITANS. 

preachers  ; '  but  many  of  the  bishops  before  him  were  ministers 
of  single  congregations,  and  without  even  one  elder  competent 
to  deliver  a  sermon.''  In  point  of  ministerial  gifts  and  actual 
influence  some  of  the  presbyters  of  Carthage  were,  no  doubt, 
far  superior  to  many  of  the  bishops  of  the  council.  And  who 
could  affirm  that  Paul  of  Samosata,  the  chief  pastor  of  the 
capital  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  was  quite  on  a  level  with  every 
one  of  the  village  bishops  around  him  whom  he  bribed  to  cele- 
brate his  praises?  No  wonder  that  it  was  soon  found  neces- 
sary to  remodel  the  episcopal  system.  The  city  bishops  had  a 
show  of  equity  in  their  favor  when  they  asserted  their  superi- 
ority, and  their  brethren  in  rural  districts  were  too  feeble  and 
dependent  effectively  to  resist  their  own  degradation. 

The  ecclesiastical  title  metropolitan  came  into  use  at  the  time 
of  the  Council  at  Nice  in  A.D.  325,'  and  there  is  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  territorial  jurisdiction  it  implied  was  then  first 
distinctly  defined  and  generally  established  ;  but  the  changes 
of  the  preceding  three-quarters  of  a  century  had  been  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  the  new  arrangement.  Many  of  the  country 
bishops  had  been  reduced  to  a  condition  of  subserviency,  whilst 
a  considerable  number  of  the  chief  pastors  in  the  great  cities 
had  been  recognized  as  the  constant  presidents  of  the  synods 
which  met  in  their  respective  capitals.  It  is  easy  to  see  how 
these  prelates  acquired  such  a  position.  Talent,  if  exerted, 
always  asserts  its  ascendency ;  and  the  metropolitan  bishops 
were  generally  more  able  and  accomplished  than  the  majority 
of  their  brethren.  They  could  fairly  plead  that  zeal  for  the 
good  of  the  Church  prompted  them  to  take  a  lead  in  ecclesi- 
astical affairs,  and  their  place  of  residence  supplied  them  with 
facilities  for  communicating  with  other  pastors  of  which  they 
often  deemed  it  prudent  to  avail  themselves.  When  the  synod 
1,  et  in  the  metropolis,  the  bishop  of  the  city  was  wont  to  en- 

'  These  presbyters  were  called  Doc/ores.     Cyprian,  Epist.  xxxiv.,  p.  80. 

'  Even  at  the  time  of  the  Council  of  Carthage  held  A.D.  397,  a  bishop  had 
sometimes  only  one  presbyter  under  his  care.  See  Dupin's  account  of  the 
Council. 

°  Biiigham  i.,  198;  and  Beveridge,  "  Cotelerius,"  torn,  ii.,  App.,  p.  17. 


RISE   OF   METROPOLITANS.  54/ 

tertain  many  of  the  members  as  his  guests  ;  and,  as  he  was  ele- 
vated above  most,  if  not  all,  of  those  with  whom  he  acted,  in 
point  of  wealth,  social  standing,  address,  and  knowledge  of  the 
world,  he  was  usually  called  on  to  occupy  the  chair  of  the  mod- 
erator." In  process  of  time  that  which  was  originally  conceded 
as  a  matter  of  courtesy  passed  into  an  admitted  right.  So  long 
as  the  metropolitan  bishop  was  inducted  into  ofifice  by  mere 
presbyters,  the  circumstances  of  his  investiture  pointed  out  to 
him  the  duty  of  humility ;  but  when  the  most  distinguished 
chief  pastors  of  the  province  deemed  it  an  honor  to  take  part 
in  his  consecration,  he  immediately  increased  his  pretensions. 
Thus  it  is  that  the  change  in  the  mode  of  episcopal  inaugura- 
tion forms  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  ecclesiastical  assumption. 
About  the  middle  of  the  third  century  various  circumstances 
conspired  to  augment  the  authority  of  the  great  bishops.  In 
the  Decian  and  Valerian  persecutions  the  chief  pastors  were 
specially  marked  out  for  attack,  and  the  heroic  constancy  with 
which  some  of  the  most  eminent  encountered  a  cruel  death 
vastly  enhanced  the  reputation  of  their  order.  In  a  few  years 
several  bishops  of  Rome  were  martyred  ;  Cyprian  of  Carthage 
endured  the  same  fate  ;  Alexander  of  Jerusalem,  and  Babylas 
of  Antioch,  also  laid  down  their  lives  for  their  religion.'  At 
the  same  time  the  schism  of  Novatian  at  Rome,  and  the  schism 
of  Felicissimus  at  Carthage,  threatened  the  Church  with  new 
divisions ;  and  the  same  arguments  which  were  used,  upwards 
of  a  hundred  years  before,  for  increasing  the  power  of  the 
president  of  the  eldership,  could  now  be  urged  with  equal 
pertinency  for  adding  to  the  authority  of  the  president  of  the 
synod.  In  point  of  fact  the  earliest  occasion  on  which  the 
bishop  of  Rome  executed  discipline  in  his  archiepiscopal 
capacity  was  immediately  connected  with  the  schism  of  Nova- 
tian ;  for  we  have  no  record  of  any  exercise  of  such  power  un- 
til Cornelius,  at  the  head  of  a  council  held  in  the  Imperial  city, 
deposed  the  pastors  who  had  officiated  at  the  consecration  of 
his  rival."  From  this  date  the  Roman  metropolitan  presided 
at  all  the  ordinations  of  the  bishops  in  his  vicinity. 

'  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  i.,  chap  ii..  p.  274,  and  p.  323.  *  Euseb.  vi.  43. 


54S  RISE   OF   METROPOLITANS. 

To  prevent  the  recurrence  of  schisms  such  as  had  now  hap- 
pened at  Rome  and  Carthage,  it  was  arranged  about  this  pe- 
riod,' at  least  in  some  quarters  of  the  Church,  that  the  presence 
or  sanction  of  the  stated  president  of  the  provincial  synod 
should  be  necessary  to  the  validity  of  all  episcopal  consecra- 
tions. There  were  still,  however,  many  districts  in  which  the 
provincial  synod  had  no  fixed  chairman.  Hence  an  ancient 
canon  directs  that  at  the  ordination  of  a  member  of  the  hie- 
rarchy, "  one  of  the  principal  bishops  shall  pray  to  God  over  the 
approved  candidate." "  By  a  "  principal  bishop  "  we  are  to 
understand  the  chief  pastor  of  a  principal  or  apostolic  church  ; ' 
but  in  some  provinces  several  such  churches  were  to  be  found, 
and  this  regulation  attests  that  no  single  ecclesiastic  had  yet 
acquired  an  unchallenged  precedence.  As  the  close  of  the 
third  century  approached,  the  ecclesiastical  structure  exhibited 
increasing  uniformity ;  and  one  dignitary  in  each  region  began 
to  be  known  as  the  stated  president  of  the  episcopal  body. 
In  one  of  the  so-called  apostolical  canons,  framed  probably 
before  the  Council  of  Nice,  this  arrangement  is  embodied. 
"  The  bishops  of  every  nation,"  says  the  ordinance,  "  ought  to 
know  who  is  the  first  among  them,  and  him  they  ought  to  es- 
teem as  their  head,  and  not  do  any  great  thing  without  his 

consent But  neither  let  him  do  anything  without  the 

consent  of  all."' 

This  canon  is  couched  in  terms  of  studied  ambiguity,  for 
the  expression  "  the  first  among  the  bishops  of  every  nation  " 
admits  of  various  interpretations.  In  many  cases  it  meant  the 
senior  bishop  of  the  district ;  in  others,  it  denoted  the  chief 
pastor  of  the  chief  city  of  the  province  ;  and  in  others  again, 
it  indicated  the  prelate  of  a  great  metropolis  who  had  con- 
trived, to  establish  his  authority  over  a  still  more  extensive 

'  Probably  in  some  of  the  great  councils  now  held  at  Rome  and  Antioch. 
See  Euseb.  vi.  43,  vi.  46.  Novatian  is  spoken  of  as  a  person  by  whom  the 
Church  was  "  split  asunder."     Euseb.  vii.  8. 

"  Bunsen's  "  Hippolytus,"  ill.  50.  Another  canon  says:  " Ht'  who  is 
■worthy  ottt  of  the  bishops  ....  putteth  his  hand  upon  him  whom  they 
have  made  bishop,  praying  over  him." — Bunscn,  iii.  42. 

'  See  chapter  viii.  of  this  section,  pp.  514,  517.  *  Bunsen,  iii.  ill. 


CONTESTS   FOR   SUPERIORITY.  549 

territory.  The  rise  of  the  city  bishops  had  completely  de- 
stroyed that  balance  of  power  which  originally  existed  in  the 
Church  ;  and  much  commotion  preceded  the  settlement  of  a 
new  ecclesiastical  equilibrium.  During  the  last  forty  years  of 
the  third  century  the  Christians  enjoyed  almost  uninterrupted 
peace  ;  the  chief  pastors  were  meanwhile  perpetually  engaged 
in  contests  for  superiority  ;  and  about  this  time  the  bishops  of 
Rome,  of  Alexandria,  and  of  Antioch,  rapidly  extended  their 
influence.  So  rampant  was  the  usurping  spirit  of  churchmen, 
that  even  the  violence  of  the  Diocletian  persecution  was  not 
sufficient  to  check  them  in  their  career  of  ambition.  A  con- 
temporary writer,  who  was  himself  a  member  of  the  episcopal 
order,  bears  testimony  to  this  melancholy  fact.  "  Some,"  said 
he,  "  who  were  reputed  our  pastors,  contemning  the  law  of 
piety,  were,  under  the  excitement  of  mutual  animosities,  fo- 
menting nothing  else  but  disputes  and  threatenings  and  rivalry 
and  reciprocal  hostility  and  hatred,  as  they  contentiously  pros- 
ecuted their  ambitious  designs  for  sovereignty."  ' 

What  a  change  had  passed  over  the  Christian  common- 
wealth in  the  course  of  little  more  than  two  hundred  years  ! 
When  the  Apostle  John  died,  the  city  church  was  governed 
by  the  common  council  of  t^ie  elders,  and  their  president  sim- 
ply announced  and  executed  the  decisions  of  his  brethren  : 
now,  the  president  was  transformed  into  a  prelate  who,  by 
gradual  encroachments,  had  stripped  the  presbytery  of  a  large 
share  of  its  authority.  At  the  close  of  the  first  century  the 
Church  of  Rome  was,  perhaps,  less  influential  than  the  Church 
of  Ephesus,  and  the  very  name  of  its  moderator  at  that  period 
is  a  matter  of  disputed  and  doubtful  tradition  ;  but  the  Dio- 
cletian persecution  had  scarcely  terminated  when  the  bishop 
of  the  great  metropolis  was  found  sitting  in  a  council  in  the 
palace  of  the  Lateran,  and  claiming  jurisdiction  over  eight  or 
ten  provinces  of  Italy !  These  revolutions  were  not  effected 
without  much  opposition.  The  strife  between  the  presbyters 
and  the  bishops  was  succeeded  by  a  general  warfare  among 
the  possessors  of  episcopal  power,  for  the  constant  moderator 

'  Euseb,  viii.  i. 


550  IMPORTAN'CE   OF   CHURCH   POLITY. 

of  the  synod  was  as  anxious  to  increase  his  authority  as  the 
constant  moderator  of  the  presbytery.  About  the  close  of 
the  third  century  the  Church  was  sadly  scandalized  by  the 
quarrels  of  the  bishops,  and  Eusebius  accordingly  intimates 
that,  in  the  reign  of  terror  which  so  quickly  followed,  they 
suffered  a  righteous  retribution  for  their  misconduct. 

Discussions  respecting  questions  of  Church  polity  are  often 
exceedingly  distasteful  to  persons  of  contracted  views,  but  of 
genuine  piety,  for  they  can  not  understand  how  the  progress 
of  vital  godliness  can  be  influenced  by  forms  of  ecclesiastical 
government.'  At  this  period  such  sentiments  were  probably 
not  uncommon,  and  much  of  the  apathy  with  which  innova- 
tions were  contemplated  may  thus  be  easily  explained.  Be- 
sides, if  the  early  bishop  was  a  man  of  ability  and  address,  his 
influence  in  his  own  church  was  nearly  overwhelming ;  for  as 
he  was  the  ordinary,  if  not  the  only,  preacher,  he  thus  pos- 
sessed the  most  effective  means  of  recommending  any  favorite 
scheme,  and  of  giving  a  decided  tone  to  public  opinion. 
When  a  parochial  charge  became  vacant  by  the  demise  of  the 
chief  pastor,  the  election  of  a  successor  was  often  vigorously 
contested ;  and  when  an  influential  presbyter  was  defeated,  he 
sometimes  exhibited  his  mortification  by  contending  for  the 
rights  of  his  order,  and  by  disputing  the  pretensions  of  his 
successful  rival.  But  as  such  opposition  was  dictated  by  the 
spirit  of  faction,  it  was  commonly  brief,  ill-sustained,  and 
abortive.  The  young,  talented,  and  aspiring  presbyters  were 
strongly  tempted  to  encourage  the  growth  of  episcopal  pre- 
rogative, for  each  hoped  one  day  to  occupy  the  place  of  dig- 
nity, and  thus  to  reap  the  fruits  of  present  encroachments. 
The  bishops  resisted  more  strenuously  the  establishment  of 

'  The  following  observation  of  a  distinguished  writer  of  the  Church  of 
England  is  well  worthy  of  consideration  :  "  The  remains  of  ancient  ecclesi- 
astical literature,  especially  those  of  the  Latin  Church,  teach  us  that  the 
corruption  of  Christianity  of  which  Romanism  is  the  full  development, 
manifested  itself,  in  the  first  instance,  not  in  the  doctrines  which  relate  to 
the  spiritual  life  of  the  individual,  but  in  those  connected  with  the  consti- 
tution and  authority  of  the  Christian  society." — Litton  s  Church  of  Christy 
p.  12. 


METROPOLITANS   ESTABLISHED   WITH   DIFFICULTY.      55 1 

metropolitan  ascendency.  An  ecclesiastical  regulation  of  great 
antiquity,'  condemned  their  translation  from  one  parish  to 
another,  so  that  when  the  episcopate  was  gained,  all  farther 
prospects  of  promotion  were  extinguished  ;  ior  the  place  of 
first  among  the  bishops  was  either  inherited  by  seniority  or 
claimed  by  the  prelate  of  the  chief  city.  Hence  it  was  that 
the  pastors  withstood  so  firmly  all  infringements  on  their  the- 
oretical parity ;  and  hence  those  "  ambitious  disputes," '  and 
those  "  collisions  of  bishops  with  bishops," '  even  amidst  the 
fires  of  martyrdom,  over  which  the  historian  of  the  Church 
professes  his  anxiety  to  cast  the  veil  of  oblivion. 

1  "  Can.  Apost.,"  xiv.  "  Concil.  Nic,"  xv.  Before  the  end  of  the  fourth 
century,  Gregory  Nazianzen  classes  this  enactment  among  "  the  obsolete 
laws." 

'  Euseb.  "  Martyrs  of  Palestine,"  c.  12.  '  Euseb.  viii.  i. 


CHAPTER   XL 

SYNODS— THEIR    HISTORY   AND   CONSTITUTION. 

The  apostles,  and  the  other  original  heralds  of  the  Gospel, 
sought  primarily  the  conversion  of  unbelievers.  The  commis- 
sion given  to  Paul  points  out  distinctly  the  grand  design  of 
their  ministry.  When  the  great  persecutor  of  the  saints  was 
himself  converted  on  his  way  to  Damascus,  our  Lord  addressed 
to  him  the  memorable  words,  "  I  have  appeared  unto  thee  for 
.this  purpose,  to  make  thee  a  minister  an*d  a  witness  both  of 
these  things  which  thou  hast  seen,  and  of  those  things  in  the 
Avhich  I  will  appear  unto  thee  ;  delivering  thee  from  the 
people,  and  from  the  Gentiles,  unto  whom  now  I  send  thee, 
to  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to  light,  and 
from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,  that  they  may  receive  for- 
giveness of  sins,  and  inheritance  among  them  which  are  sanc- 
tified by  faith  that  is  in  me."  ' 

When  a  few  disciples  were  collected  in  a  particular  locality, 
it  not  unfrcquently  happened  that  they  remained  for  a  time 
without  any  proper  ecclesiastical  organization/  But  the 
Christian  cause,  under  such  circumstances,  could  not  be  ex- 
pected to  flourish ;  and,  therefore,  as  soon  as  practicable,  the 
apostles  and  evangelists  did  not  neglect  to  make  arrangements 
for  the  increase  and  edification  of  these  infant  communities. 
To  provide,  as  well  for  the  maintenance  of  discipline,  as  for 
the  preaching  of  the  Word,  they  accordingly  proceeded  to  or- 
dain elders  in  every  city  where  the  truth  had  gained  converts. 
These  elders  afterward  ordained  deacons  in  their  respective 

'  Acts  xxvi.  16-18. 

'  Such  was  the  case  with  the  churches  mentioned  Acts  xiv.  23,  and  Titus 

(552) 


ALL  EARLY  CHURCHES  NOT  FORMALLY  UNITED.         553 

congregations  ;  and  thus,  in  due  time,  the  Church  was  regu- 
larly constituted. 

In  the  first  century  Christian  societies  were  formed  only 
here  and  there  throughout  the  Roman  Empire  ;  and,  at  its 
close,  the  Gospel  had  scarcely  penetrated  into  some  of  the 
provinces.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  we  can  trace  histori- 
cally any  general  confederation  of  the  churches  established 
during  this  period,  or  demonstrate  their  incorporation ;  as 
their  distance,  their  depressed  condition,  and  the  jealousy  with 
which  they  were  regarded  by  the  civil  government,'  rendered 
any  extensive  combination  utterly  impossible.  At  a  time 
when  the  disciples  met  together  for  worship  in  secret  and  be- 
fore break  of  day,  their  pastors  did  not  invite  public  attention 
to  the  business  of  the  Church,  or  assemble  in  multitudinous 
councils.  But  though,  in  the  beginning  of  the  second  century, 
there  was  no  formal  bond  of  union  connecting  the  several 
Christian  communities  throughout  the  world,  they  meanwhile 
contrived  in  various  ways  to  cultivate  an  unbroken  fraternal 
intercourse.  Recognizing  each  other  as  members  of  the  same 
holy  brotherhood,  they  maintained  an  epistolary  correspond- 
ence, in  which  they  treated  of  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
common  interest.  When  the  pastor  of  one  church  visited 
another,  his  status  was  immediately  acknowledged  ;  and  even 
when  an  ordinary  disciple  emigrated  to  a  distant  province,  the 
ecclesiastical  certificate  which  he  carried  along  with  him  se- 
cured his  admission  to  membership  in  the  strange  congrega- 
tion. Thus,  all  the  churches  treated  each  other  as  portions  ol 
one  great  family ;  all  adhered  to  much  the  same  system  of 
polity  and  discipline ;  and,  though  there  was  not  unity  of  juris- 
diction, there  was  the  "  keeping  of  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in 
the  bond  of  peace." 

In  modern  times  many  ecclesiastical  historians '  have  asserted 
that  synods  commenced  about  the  middle  of  the  second  cent- 
ury.    But  the  statement  is  unsupported  by  a  single  particle  of 

1  Trajan  regarded  with  great  suspicion  all  associations,  even  fire  brigades 
and  charitable  societies.     See  Pliny's  "  Letters,"  book  x.,  letters  43  and  94. 

*  Such  as  Mosheim,  "  Instit."  i.  149,  150;  Neander,  "General  History," 
i.  281. 


554  SYNODS    OF   APOSTOLIC    ORIGIN. 

evidence,  and  a  number  of  facts  may  be  ad  Uced  to  prove  t'nt 
it  is  altogether  untenable.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
synods,  at  least  on  a  limited  scale,  met  in  the  days  of  the 
apostles,  and  that  the  Church  courts  of  a  later  age  were  simply 
the  continuation  and  expansion  of  these  primitive  conventions. 
We  know  very  little  respecting  the  history  of  the  Christian 
commonwealth  during  the  former  half  of  the  second  century, 
for  the  extant  memorials  of  the  Church  of  that  period  are  ex- 
ceedingly few  and  meagre ;  and  as  the  proceedings  of  most  of 
the  synods  which  were  then  held  did  not  attract  much  notice,' 
it  is  not  remarkable  that  they  have  shared  the  fate  of  almost 
all  the  other  ecclesiastical  transactions  of  the  same  date,  and 
that  they  have  been  buried  in  oblivion.'  It  is  nowhere  inti- 
mated by  any  ancient  authority  that  synodical  meetings  com- 
menced fifty  years  after  the  death  of  the  beloved  disciple,  and 
the  earliest  writers  who  touch  upon  the  subject  speak  of  them 
as  of  apostolic  origin.  Irena^us,  the  pastor  of  Lyons,  had 
reached  manhood  when,  according  to  Mosheim  and  others, 
synods  were  at  first  formed  ;  he  enjoyed  the  instructions  of 
Polycarp,  the  disciple  of  the  Apostle  John ;  he  was  beyond 
question  one  of  the  best  informed  Christian  ministers  of  his 
generation  ;  and  yet  he  considered  that  these  ecclesiastical  as- 
semblies were  in  existence  in  the  first  century.  Speaking  of 
the  visit  of  Paul  to  Miletus  when  he  sent  to  Ephesus  and 
called  the  elders  of  the  Church,'  he  says  that  the  apostle  then 
convoked  "  the  bishops  and  presbyters  of  Ephesus  and  of  the 
other  adjoining  cities,"  * — plainly  indicating  that  he  summoned 
a  synodical  meeting.     Had  an  assembly  of  this  kind  been  a 

'  During  the  first  forty  years  of  the  second  century,  Gnosticism  did  not 
excite  any  great  agitation,  and  as  the  Church  courts  were  occupied  chiefly 
with  matters  of  mere  routine,  it  is  not  remarkable  that  their  proceedings 
have  not  been  recorded. 

■^  We  have  no  contemporary  evidence  to  prove  that  ordinaiions  took 
place  in  the  former  half  of  the  second  century,  and  yet  we  can  not  doubt 
their  occurrence.  An  act  of  ordination  implies  the  existence  of  a  church 
court  of  some  description. 

'  Acts  XX.  17. 

'  "  In  Miieto  enim  convocatis  episcopis  et  presbyteris,  qui  erant  ab 
Epheso  et  a  reliquis  pioximis  civitatibus."— Ct^/z/ra  Hicrcs.  iii.,  c.  14,  §  2. 


SYNODS   IN   THE   SECOND   CENTURY.  555 

novelty  in  the  days  of  Irenaeus,  the  pastor  of  Lyons  would  not 
have  given  such  a  version  of  a  passage  in  the  inspired  narra- 
tive. Cyprian  flourished  shortly  after  the  time  when,  accord- 
ing to  the  modern  theory,  councils  began  to  meet  in  Africa, 
but  the  bishop  of  Carthage  himself  unquestionably  enter- 
tained higher  views  of  their  antiquity.  He  declared  that  con- 
formably to  "  the  practice  received  from  divine  tradition  and 
apostolic  observance^'  ^  "all  the  neighboring  bishops  of  the  same 
province  met  together"  among  the  people  over  whom  a  pas- 
tor was  to  be  ordained ; '  and  he  did  not  here  merely  give 
utterance  to  his  own  impressions,  for  a  whole  African  synod 
concurred  in  his  statement.  Subsequent  writers  of  unimpeach- 
able credit  refer  to  the  canons  of  councils  of  which  we  other- 
wise know  nothing ;  and  though  we  can  not  now  name  the 
places  where  these  courts  assembled,  we  have  evidence  that  at 
least  some  of  them  were  convened  before  the  middle  of  the 
second  century.  Thus,  when  Jerome  ascribes  the  origin  of 
Prelacy  to  an  ecclesiastical  decree,  he  alludes  evidently  to  a 
synodical  convention  of  an  earlier  date  than  any  of  the  meet- 
ings of  which  history  has  preserved  a  record.' 

Did  we  even  want  the  direct  testimony  just  adduced  as  to 
the  government  of  synods  in  the  former  part  of  the  second 
century,  we  might  on  other  grounds  infer  that  this  species  of 
polity  then  existed ;  for  apostolic  example  suggested  its  pro- 
priety, and  the  spirit  of  fraternity  so  assiduously  cherished  by 
the  early  rulers  of  the  Church  prompted  them  to  meet  together 
for  the  discussion  and  settlement  of  ecclesiastical  questions  in 
which  they  felt  a  common  interest.  But  when  Christianity 
was  still  struggling  for  existence,  it  was  not  in  a  condition  to 
form  widely-spread  organizations.  The  business  of  the  early 
Church  courts  was  conducted  privately,  they  were  attended 

'  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixviii.,  §  256. 

"  The  new  bishop  was  often  chosen  before  the  interment  of  his  predeces- 
sor; and  even  when  the  senior  presbyter  was  the  president,  it  is  probable 
that  the  neighboring  pastors  assembled  to  attend  the  funeral  of  the  de- 
ceased pastor,  and  to  be  present  at  the  inauguration  of  his  successor.  See 
Bingham,  i.  150. 

'  See  chapter  vi.  of  this  Section,  p.  476. 


556  EARLY   SYNODS   CONDEMNED    MONTANISM. 

by  but  few  members,  and  they  were  generally  composed  of 
those  pastors  and  elders  who  resided  in  the  same  district  and 
who  could  conveniently  assemble  on  short  notice.  Their 
meetings,  in  all  likelihood,  were  summoned  at  irregular  inter- 
vals, and  were  held,  to  avoid  suspicion,  sometimes  in  one  city 
and  sometimes  in  another ;  and,  except  when  an  exciting 
question  awakened  deep  and  general  amxiety,  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Churches  of  a  whole  province  rarely  ventured  on 
a  united  convention.  Our  ignorance  of  the  councils  of  the 
early  part  of  the  second  century  arises  simply  from  the  fact 
that  no  writer  during  that  interval  registered  their  acts  ;  and 
we  have  now  no  means  of  accurately  filling  up  this  blank  in  the 
history.  But  we  have  good  grounds  for  believing  that  Gnosti- 
cism now  formed  the  topic  of  discussion  in  several  synods.' 
The  errorists,  we  know,  were  driven  out  of  the  Church  in  all 
places  ;  and  how  can  we  account  for  this  general  expulsion 
except  upon  the  principle  of  the  united  action  of  ecclesiastical 
judicatories?  Jerome  gives  us  to  understand  that  their  machi- 
nations led  to  a  change  in  the  ecclesiastical  constitution,  and 
that  this  change  was  effected  by  a  synodical  decree  adopted 
all  over  the  world" — thereby  implying  that  presbyterial  gov- 
ernment was  already  in  universal  operation.  Montanism 
appeared  wliilst  Gnosticism  was  yet  in  its  full  strength,  and 
this  gloomy  fanaticism  created  intense  agitation.  Many  of  the 
pastors,  as  well  as  of  the  people,  were  bewildered  by  its  pre- 
tensions to  inspiration,  and  by  the  sanctimony  of  its  ascetic 
discipline.  It  immediately  occupied  the  attention  of  the  eccle- 
siastical courts,  and  its  progress  was  arrested  by  their  emphatic 
condemnation  of  its  absurdities.  It  is  certain  that  their  inter- 
ference was  judicial  and  decided.  "  When  the  faithful  held 
frequent  meetings  in  many  places  throughout  Asia  on  account 
of  this  affair,  and  examined  the  novel  doctrines,  and  pro- 

'  The  old  writer  called  Prasdeslinatus  speaks  of  several  synods  held  in 
reference  to  the  Gnostics  before  the  middle  of  the  second  century.  He  may 
have  had  access  to  some  documents  now  lost,  but  the  testimony  of  a  witness 
who  lived  in  the  fifth  or  sixth  century  is  not  of  much  value. 

"  "  In  toto  orbe  decretum  est  ut  unus  de  presbyteris  electus  superponeretur 
caeteris." — Cotn.  in  Titiim. 


THE   PASCHAL   CONTROVERSY.  557 

nounced  them  profane,  and  rejected  them  as  heresy,"  the 
Montanist  prophets  "  were  in  consequence  driven  out  of  the 
Church  and  excluded  from  communion." ' 

The  words  just  quoted  are  from  the  pen  of  an  anonymous 
writer  who  flourished  toward  the  end  of  the  second  or  begin- 
ning of  the  third  century;''  and,  though  they  supply  the 
earliest  distinct  notice  of  synodical  meetings,  they  do  not  even 
hint  that  such  assemblies  were  of  recent  original.  The  Paschal 
controversy  succeeded  the  Montanist  agitation,  and  convulsed 
the  whole  Church  from  East  to  West  by  its  frivolous  discus- 
sions. The  mode  of  keeping  the  Paschal  festival  had  for 
nearly  fifty  years  been  a  vexed  question,  but  about  the  close 
of  the  second  century  it  began  to  create  bitter  contention. 
Eusebius  has  given  us  an  account  of  the  affair,  and  his  narra- 
tive throws  great  light  on  the  state  of  the  ecclesiastical  com- 
munity at  the  time  of  its  occurrence.  "  For  this  cause,"  says 
he,  '*  there  were  synods  and  councils  of  bishops,  and  all,  with 
according  judgment,  published  in  epistles  an  ecclesiastical  de- 
cree  There  is  still  extant  a  letter  from  those  who  at 

that  time  were  called  together  in  Palestine,  over  whom  pre- 
sided Theophilus,  bishop  of  the  parish  of  Caesarea,  and  Nar- 
cissus, bishop  of  the  parish  of  Jerusalem.  There  is  also 
another  letter  from  those  who  were  convoked  at  Rome '  con- 
cerning the  same  question,  which  shows  that  Victor  was  then 
bishop.  There  is,  too,  a  letter  from  the  bishops  of  Pontus,  over 
whom  Palmas,  as  the  senior  pastor,  presided.  There  is  like- 
wise a  letter  from  the  parishes  in  Gaul  of  which  Irenaeus  was 
president ;  and  another  besides  from  the  Churches  in  Osroene 
and  the  cities  in  that  quarter." ' 

It  is  obvious  from  this  statement  that,  before  the  termina- 

1  Euseb.  V.  i6.  ''  See  Routh's  "Reliquiae,"  ii.  183,  195. 

^  Mosheim  ("Commentaries"  by  Vidal,  ii.  105)  has  made  a  vain  attempt 
to  set  aside  the  Latin  translation  of  this  passage  by  Valesius,  as  it  com- 
pletely upsets  his  favorite  theory.  But  any  one  who  carefully  examines  the 
Greek  of  Eusebius  may  see  that  the  rendering  complained  of  is  quite  cor- 
rect. It  can  not  be  necessary  to  point  out  to  the  intelligent  reader  the 
transparent  sophistry  of  nearly  all  that  Mosheim  has  written  on  this  subject. 

*  Euseb.  V.  23. 


558        TERTULLIAN'S  testimony  CO^XERNING  SYNODS. 

tion  of  the  second  century,  synodical  government  was  estab. 
lished  throughout  the  whole  Church  ;  for  we  here  trace  its 
operation  in  France,  in  Mesopotamia  or  Osroene,  in  Italy, 
Pontus,  and  Palestine.  This  passage  also  illustrates  the  prog- 
ress of  the  changes  which  were  taking  place  at  the  period 
under  review  in  the  constitution  of  ecclesiastical  judicatories. 
As  the  president  of  the  presbytery  was  at  first  the  senior 
elder,  so  the  president  of  the  synod  was  at  first  the  senior 
pastor.  At  this  time  the  primitive  arrangement  had  not  been 
altogether  superseded ;  for  at  the  meeting  of  the  bishops  of 
Pontus,  Palmas,  as  being  the  oldest  member  present,  was  called 
to  occupy  the  chair  of  the  moderator.  But  elsewhere  this 
ancient  regulation  had  been  set  aside,  and  in  some  places  no 
new  principle  had  yet  been  adopted.  At  the  synod  of  Pales- 
tine the  jealousy  of  two  rivals  for  the  presidency  led  to  a 
rather  awkward  compromise.  Caesarea  was  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment, and  on  that  ground  its  bishop  could  challenge  prece- 
dence of  every  other  in  the  district,  but  the  Church  of  Jerusa- 
lem was  the  mother  of  the  entire  Christian  community,  and 
its  pastor,  now  a  hundred  years  of  age,"  considered  that  he 
was  entitled  to  fill  the  place  of  dignity.  For  the  sake  of  peace 
the  assembled  fathers  agreed  to  appoint  two  chairmen,  and 
accordingly  Theophilus  of  Caesarea  and  Narcissus  of  Jerusalem 
presided  jointly  in  the  synod  of  Palestine.  In  the  synod  of 
Rome  there  was  no  one  to  dispute  the  pretensions  of  Bishop 
Victor.  As  the  chief  pastor  of  the  great  metropolitan  Church, 
he  seems,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  have  taken  possession  of 
the  presidential  ofifice. 

A  few  years  after  the  Paschal  controversy  the  celebrated 
Tertullian  became  entangled  in  the  errors  of  Montanism,  and 
in  vindication  of  his  own  principles  published  a  tract  "  Con- 
cerning Fasts,"  in  which  there  is  a  passing  reference  to  the 
subject  of  ecclesiastical  convocations.  "Among  the  Greek 
nations,"  says  he,  "these  councils  of  the  whole  Church  are 
held  in  fixed  places,  in  which,  whilst  certain  important  ques- 
tions are  discussed,  the  representation  of  the  whole  Christian 

'  See  Period  ii.,  sec.  iii.,  chap,  v.,  p.  463. 


tertullian's  testimony  concerning  synods.     559 

name  is  also  celebrated  with  great  solemnity.  And  how  wor- 
thy is  this  of  a  faith  which  expects  to  have  its  converts  gath- 
ered from  all  parts  to  Christ  ?  See  how  good  and  how  pleasant 
a  thing  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity !  You  do 
not  well  know  how  to  sing  this,  except  when  you  are  holding 
communion  with  many.  But  those  conventions,  after  they 
have  been  first  employed  in  prayers  and  fasting,  know  how  to 
mourn  with  the  mourners,  and  thus  at  length  to  rejoice  with 
those  that  rejoice." ' 

Greek  was  spoken  throughout  a  great  part  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  and  at  this  period  it  was  used  even  by  the  chief 
pastors  of  the  Italian  capital,  so  that  when  Tertullian  men- 
tions t/ie  Greek  nations^  he  employs  an  expression  of  equivo- 
cal significance.  But,  no  doubt,  he  refers  chiefly  to  the 
mother  country  and  its  colonies  on  the  other  side  of  the 
^gean  Sea,  or  to  Greece  and  Asia  Minor.  It  is  apparent 
from  the  apostolic  epistles,  most  of  which  are  addressed  to 
Churches  within  their  borders,  that  the  Gospel,  at  an  early 
date,  spread  extensively  and  rapidly  in  these  countries  ;  and, 
at  least  in  some  districts,  its  adherents  must  have  now  made 
a  considerable  figure  in  any  denominational  census.  They 
were  thus  emboldened  to  erect  their  ecclesiastical  courts  on 
a  broader  basis,  as  well  as  to  hold  their  meetings  with  greater 
publicity,  than  heretofore  ;  and,  as  these  assemblies  were  at- 
tended, not  only  by  the  pastors  and  the  elders,  but  also  by 
many  deacons  and  ordinary  church  members  who  were 
anxious  to  witness  their  deliberations,  Tertullian  alleges,  in 
his  own  rhetorical  style  of  expression,  that  in  them  "  the  rep- 
resentation of  the  whole  Christian  name  was  celebrated  with 
great  solemnity."  '     These  Greek  councils  commenced  with  a 

'  Tertullian,  "  De  Jejun."  c.  xiii. 

2  "  Aguntur  praeterea  per  Grcecias  ilia  certis  in  locis  concilia  ex  universis 
ecclesiis." 

^  "  Ipsa  representatio  totius  nominis  Christiani  magna  veneratione  cele- 
bratur."  Mosheim  argues  from  these  words  that  the  bishops  attended 
these  assemblies,  not  by  right  of  office,  but  as  representatives  of  the  peo- 
ple !  He  might,  with  more  plausibility,  have  contended  that  they  were 
held  only  once  a  year.  "  Ista  solleinnia  quibus  tunc  praesens  patrocinatus 
est  sermo." 


560     tertullian's  testoiony  conxerning  synods. 

period  of  fasting — a  circumstance  by  which  they  were  dis- 
tinguished from  similar  meetings  convened  elsewhere,  and  as 
they  thus  supplied  him  with  an  argument  in  favor  of  one  of 
the  grand  peculiarities  of  the  discipline  of  Montanism,  it  is 
obviously  for  this  reason  they  are  here  so  prominently  no- 
ticed. If,  as  he  contends,  these  facts  were  kept  so  religiously 
by  the  representatives  of  the  Church  when  in  attendance  on 
some  of  their  most  solemn  assemblies,  there  might,  after  all, 
be  a  warrant  for  the  observance  of  that  more  rigid  abstinence 
which  he  now  inculcated.  But  though  .this  passage  of  Ter- 
tullian  is  the  only  authority  adduced  to  prove  that  councils 
originated  in  Greece,  it  is  plain  that  it  gives  no  sanction 
whatever  to  any  such  theory.  Neither  does  it  afford  the 
slightest  foundation  for  the  inference  that,  at  the  time  when 
it  was  written,  these  ecclesiastical  convocations  were  un 
known  in  Africa  and  Italy.  We  have  direct  proof  that  be- 
fore this  period  they  not  only  met  in  Rome,  but  that  the 
bishop  of  the  great  city  had  been  in  the  habit  of  requesting 
his  brother  pastors  in  other  countries  to  hold  such  assemblies.' 
There  is,  too,  satisfactory  evidence  that  they  were  now  not 
unknown  at  Carthage,"  and  Tertullian  himself  elsewhere  re- 
fers to  the  proceedings  of  African  synods."  He  must  have 
been  well  aware  that  they  had  recently  assembled  in  various 
parts  of  the  West  to  pronounce  judgment  in  the  Paschal  con- 
troversy; for  the  decisions  of  the  Gallic  and  Roman  synods 
mentioned  by  Eusebius  were  published  all  over  the  Church ; 
and  the  reason  why  he  refers  to  the  convocations  of  the 
Greeks  was,  not  because  such  meetings  were  not  held  in  other 

'  Euseb.  V.  24.  Hippolytus  complains  of  a  bishop  of  Rome  that  he  was 
"ignorant  of  the  ecclesiastical  rules" — a  plain  proof,  not  only  that  synods 
were  in  existence  in  the  West,  but  also  that  a  knowledge  of  canon  law  was 
considered  an  important  accomplishment.     See  Bunsen,  ii.  223. 

'  Cyprian  (Epist.  Ixxiii.)  speaks  of  a  large  council  held  "  many  years  "  be- 
fore his  time  "  under  Agrippinus,"  one  of  his  predecessors.  This  bishop 
was  contemporary  with  Tertullian. 

'  In  his  book  "  De  Pudicitia,"  c.  10,  he  speaks  of  the  "  Pastor  "  of  Her- 
mas  as  classed  among  apocryphal  productions  "  ab  omni  concilio  eccltsia- 
rum  " — implying  that  it  had  been  condemned  by  African  councils  as  well  as 
others. 


SYNODS   AND   THE   AMPHICTYONIC   COUNCIL.  561 

lands,  but  because  these,  from  their  pecuHar  method  of  pro- 
cedure in  the  way  of  fasting,'  supplied,  as  he  conceived,  a 
very  apposite  argument  in  support  of  the  discipline  he  was  so 
desirous  to  recommend. 

If  historians  have  erred  in  stating  that  synods  commenced 
in  Greece,  they  have  been  still  more  egregiously  mistaken  in 
asserting  that  the  once  famous  Amphictyonic  Council  sug- 
gested their  establishment,  and  furnished  the  model  for  their 
construction.  In  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era  the 
Council  of  the  Amphictyons  was  shorn  of  its  glory,  and 
though  it  then  continued  to  meet,'  it  had  long  ceased  to  be 
either  an  exponent  of  the  national  mind,  or  a  free  and  inde- 
pendent assembly.  It  is  not  to  be  imagined  that  the  Chris- 
tian community,  in  the  full  vigor  of  its  early  growth,  would 
all  at  once  have  abandoned  its  apostolic  constitution,  and 
adopted  a  form  of  government  borrowed  from  an  effete  insti- 
tute. Synods,  which  now  formed  so  prominent  a  part  of  the 
ecclesiastical  polity,  could  claim  a  higher  and  holier  original. 
They  were  the  legitimate  development  of  the  primitive  struct- 
ure of  the  Church,  for  they  could  be  traced  up  to  that  meet- 
ing of  the  apostles  and  elders  at  Jerusalem  which  relieved  the 
Gentile  converts  from  the  observance  of  the  right  of  circum 
cision. 

The  most  plausible  argument  in  support  of  the  theory  that 
the  Amphictyonic  Council  suggested  the  establishment  of 
synodical  conventions  is  based  on  the  alleged  fact  that  these 
ecclesiastical  meetings  were  at  first  held  in  spring  and  autumn, 
or  exactly  at  the  times  when  the  Greek  political  deputies 
were  accustomed  to  assemble.'  But  this  statement,  when 
closely  examined,  is  found  to  be  quite  destitute  of  evidence. 
Tertullian  does  not  say  that  the  Greek  synods  met  twice  a 
year,  and  we  know  that,  at  least  half  a  century  afterward, 
they  assembled  only  annually.     This  fact  is  attested  by  Fir- 

'  The  prevalence  of  the  Montanistic  spirit  in  Asia  Minor  may  account  for 
this. 

^  See  Potter's  "Antiquities  of  Greece,"  i.  106.  It  consisted  of  only  about 
thirty  members. 

2  See  Mosheim's  "  Commentaries,"  cent,  ii.,  sect.  22.  » 

36 


562  GREEK   COUNCILS   HELD    IN   FIXED   PLACES. 

milian  of  Cappadocia,  in  his  celebrated  letter  to  Cyprian. 
"  It  is  of  necessity  arranged  among  us,"  says  he,  "  that  we 
elders  and  presidents  meet  every  year '  to  set  in  order  the 
things  intrusted  to  our  charge,  that  if  there  be  any  matters 
of  grave  moment  they  may  be  settled  by  common  advice."  * 
The  author  of  this  epistle  lived  in  the  very  country  where 
synods  are  supposed  to  have  assembled  so  much  more  fre- 
quently half  a  century  before,  so  that  his  evidence  demon- 
strates the  fallacy  of  the  hypothesis  adopted  by  some  modern 
historians. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  third  century,  or  at  the  time 
when  Tertullian  wrote,  the  members  of  the  Greek  synods 
acted  on  an  arrangement  not  then  commonly  adopted ;  for 
they  met  together  in  "  fixed  places."  These  "  fixed  places  " 
were  the  metropolitan  cities  of  the  respective  provinces.  The 
pastors  and  elders  had  not  yet  generally  agreed  to  recognize 
the  chief  pastor  of  the  metropolitan  city  as  the  constant 
moderator  of  the  synod.  In  the  case  of  the  bishop  of  Rome 
the  rule  was  already  established  ;  but,  in  other  instances,  the 
senior  pastor  present  was  the  president.  The  constant  meet- 
ing of  the  synod  in  the  principal  town  of  the  province 
tended,  however,  to  increase  the  influence  of  its  bishop  ;  and 
he  was  at  length  almost  everywhere  acknowledged  as  the 
proper  chairman.'  At  the  Council  of  Nice  in  A.D.  325  his 
rights  were  formally  secured  by  ecclesiastical  enactment. 
About  the  same  date  synods  commenced  to  assemble  with 
greater  frequency.  "  Let  there  be  a  meeting  of  the  bishops 
twice  a  year,"  says  the  thirty-seventh  of  the  so-called  Apos- 
tolical Canons,  "  and  let  them  examine  among  themselves  the 
decrees  concerning  religion,  and  settle  the  ecclesiastical  con- 
troversies which  have  occurred.  One  meeting  is  to  be  held 
in  the  fourth  week  of  the  Pentecost,  and  the  other  on  the 
1 2th  day  of  the  month  of  October."  ' 

'  "  Per  singulos  annos  seniores  et  praepositi  in  unum  conveniainus." 
'  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixxv.,  pp.  302,  303. 

^  In  Africa,  however,  this  arrangement  was  not  established  even  in  the 
fifth  century.     There,  the  srnior  bishop  still  continued  president, 

*  This  canon  differs  from  the  fifth  of  the  Council  of  Nice,  as  the  latter  re- 


THE   EARLY   CHURCH   GOVERNED   BY   SYNODS,  563 

As  soon  as  the  light  of  historical  records  begins  to  illustrate 
the  condition  of  any  portion  of  the  ancient  Church,  its  synodi- 
cal  government  is  discovered ;  and  though  the  literary  memo- 
rials of  the  third  century  are  comparatively  few,  they  are 
amply  sufficient  to  demonstrate  that  ecclesiastical  courts,  on  a 
tolerably  extensive  scale,  were  then  everywhere  established. 
About  that  time  the  controversy  relative  to  the  propriety  of 
rebaptizing  heretics  awakened  much  acrimonious  feeling,  and 
the  subject  was  keenly  discussed  in  the  synods  which  met  for 
its  consideration.  Nowhere  is  any  hint  given  that  these 
courts  were  of  recent  origin.  Though  meeting  in  so  many 
places  in  the  East  and  West,  and  in  countries  so  far  apart, 
they  are  invariably  represented  as  the  ancient  order  of  ecclesi- 
astical regimen.  They  all  appear,  too,  as  co-ordinate  and  in- 
dependent judicatories ;  and  though  the  Roman  bishop,  as 
the  chief  pastor  of  the  Catholic  Church,  endeavored  to  induce 
them  to  adopt  uniform  decisions,  his  attempts  to  dictate  to 
the  brethren  in  Spain,  Africa,  and  other  countries  were  firmly 
and  indignantly  repulsed.  There  were  fundamental  principles 
which  they  were  all  understood  to  acknowledge  ;  these  prin- 
ciples were  generally  embodied  in  the  divine  Statute-book  ;  it 
was  admitted  that  the  decisions  of  every  council  which  adhered 
to  them  were  entitled  to  universal  reverence ;  but,  though  the 
reservation  was  scarcely  compatible  with  the  genius  of  cath- 
olicity, each  provincial  convention  claimed  the  right  of  form- 
ing its  own  judgment  of  the  acts  of  other  courts,  and  of  adopt- 
ing or  rejecting  them  accordingly. 

The  most  influential  synods  held  before  the  establishment 
of  Christianity  by  Constantine,  were  those  which  met  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  third  century,  to  try  the  case  of  the  famous 
Paul  of  Samosata,  the  bishop  of  Antioch.  The  charge  pre- 
ferred against  him  was  the  denial  of  the  proper  deity  of  the 
Son  of  God  ;  and  as  he  was  an  individual  of  much  ability  and 
address,  as  well  as,  in  point  of  rank,  one  of  the  greatest  pre! 
ates   in    existence,    his    case   awakened    uncommon    interest. 

quires  the  first  meeting  to  be  held  "before  Lent."     It  is  doubtful  which 
canon  is  of  higher  antiiquity. 


V 


564  THE   SYNODS   OF   ANTIOCH. 

Christianity  had  recently  obtained  the  sanction  of  a  legal  tol- 
eration,' and  therefore  churchmen  now  ventured  to  travel  from 
different  provinces  to  sit  in  judgment  on  this  noted  heresi- 
arch.  In  the  councils  which  assembled  at  Antioch  were  to  be 
found,  not  only  the  pastors  of  Syria,  but  also  those  of  various 
places  in  Palestine  and  Asia  Minor.  Even  Dionysius,  bishop 
of  the  capital  of  Egypt,  was  invited  to  be  present ;  but  he 
pleaded  his  age  and  infirmities  as  an  apology  for  his  non- 
attendance.'  In  a  council  which  assembled  A.D.  269,'  Paul  was 
deposed  and  excommunicated ;  and  the  sentence,  which  was 
announced  by  letter  to  the  chief  pastors  of  Rome,  Alexandria, 
and  other  distinguished  sees,  was  received  with  general  appro- 
bation. 

All  the  information  we  possess  respecting  the  councils  of 
the  first  three  centuries  is  extremely  scanty,  so  that  it  is  no 
easy  matter  exactly  to  ascertain  their  constitution ;  but  we 
can  not  question  the  correctness  of  the  statement  of  Firmil- 
ian  of  Cappadocia,  who  was  himself  a  prominent  actor  in  sev- 
eral of  the  most  famous  of  these  assemblies,  and  who  affirms 
that  they  were  composed  of  "  elders  and  presiding  pastors."  * 
We  have  seen  that  bishops  and  elders  anciently  united  even 
in  episcopal  ordinations  ;  and  these  ministers,  when  assembled 
on  such  occasions,  constituted  ecclesiastical  judicatories.  A 
modern  writer,  of  high  standing  in  connection  with  the  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford,  has  affirmed  that  "  bishops  alone  had  a 
definitive  voice  in  synods,"  '  but  the  testimonies  which  he  has 
himself  adduced  prove  the  inaccuracy  of  the  assertion.     The 

'  Under  Gallienus,  about  A.n.  260.  ^  Euseb.  vii.  27. 

'  This  was  the  third  council  held  on  account  of  Paul,  as  it  is  stated  in  the 
synodical  epistle  that  Firmiiian  came  /Tvi'ce  to  Antioch  and  died  on  his  way 
to  it  at  this  time.  At  the  preceding  councils  Firmiiian  seems  to  have  pre- 
sided. See  Pusey  on  the  Councils,  p.  92,  note.  Dr.  Burton  says,  "  It 
being  generally  the  custom/(9r  f/ie  oldest  bishop  to  preside  at  these  councils,  it 
is  probable  that  this  distinction  was  given  at  present  to  Firmilianus." — I.ect. 
Ecc.  Hist,  of  Firtt  Three  Cent.,  ii.  390.  The  rank  of  his  city  could  not 
have  given  him  a  claim. 

*  "  Seniores  et  praspositi." — Epist.  Cypriani,  Opera,  p.  302. 

*"The  Councils  of  the  Church."  by  Rev.  E.  B.  Pusey,  D.D.,  p.  34. 
Oxford,  1857. 


BISHOPS   AND   ELDERS   SIT   TOGETHER.  565 

presbyter  Origen,  at  an  Arabian  synod  held  in  A.D.  229,  sat 
with  the  bishops,  and  was,  in  fact,  the  most  important  and 
influential  member  of  the  convention.  In  A.D.  230,  Demetrius 
of  Alexandria  "  gathered  a  council  of  bishops  and  of  certain 
presbyters,  which  decreed  that  Origen  should  remove  from 
Alexandria." '  About  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  "  dur- 
ing the  vacancy  of  the  see  of  Rome,  the  presbyters  of  the  city 
took  part  in  the  first  Roman  council  on  the  lapsed."  ''  At  the 
council  of  Eliberis,  held  in  A.D.  305,  no  less  than  twenty-six 
presbyters  sat  along  with  the  bishops.^  In  some  cases  dea- 
cons,* and  even  laymen,  were  permitted  to  address  synods  ;  '' 
but  ancient  documents  attest  that  they  were  never  regarded 
as  constituent  members.  Whilst  the  bishops  and  elders  sat 
together,  and  thus  proclaimed  their  equality  as  ecclesiastical 
judges,"  the  people  and  even  the  deacons  were  obliged  to 
stand.  The  circular  letter  of  the  council  of  Antioch  announc- 
ing the  deposition  of  Paul  of  Samosata  is  written  in  the  name 
of  "  bishops,  and  presbyters,  and  deacons,  and  the  Churches  of 
God''; '  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  latter  are 
added  merely  as  a  matter  of  prudence,  and  in  testimony  of 
their  cordial  approval  of  the  ecclesiastical  verdict.  The  here- 
siarch  had  left  no  art  unemployed  to  acquire  popularity,  and 
it  was  necessary  to  show  that  he  had  lost  the  influence  on 
which  he  had  been  calculating.  It  is  obvious  that  the  pas- 
tors and  elders  alone  were  permitted  to  adjudicate,  for  why 
were  they  assembled  from  various  quarters  to  uphold  the  doc- 
trine and  discipline  of  the  Church,  if  the  people  who  were 
themselves  tainted  with  heresy  or  guilty  of  irregularity,  had 
the  liberty  of  voting?  Under  such  circumstances,  the  decis- 
ion would  have  been   substantially,  not  the   decree   of   the 

'  Pusey,  p.  58.  '  Ibid.,  p.  66.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  95. 

*  As  in  the  case  of  Athanasius  at  the  Council  of  Nice. 

*  As  witnesses  and  commissioners  may  still  be  heard  by  Church  courts. 

*  "  Graviter  commoti  sumus  ego  et  coUegae  mei  qui  prsesentes  aderant  et 
compresbyteri  nostri  qui  nobis  assidebant." — Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixvi.,  p.  245. 
"  Residcntibus  etiam  viginti  et  sex  presbyteris,  adstantibus  diaconibus  ei 
omni  plebe." — Concil.  Illiberit. 

'  Euseb.  vii.  30. 


566  INFLUENCE   OF   MEETINGS   OF   ELDERS. 

Church  rulers,  but  of  the  multitude  of  the  particular  city  in 
which  they  were  congregated. 

•  The  theory  of  some  modern  ecclesiastical  historians,  who 
hold  that  all  the  early  Christian  congregations  were  originally 
independent,  can  not  bear  the  ordeal  of  careful  investigation. 
Whilst  it  directly  conflicts  with  the  testimony  of  Jerome,  who 
declares  that  the  churches  were  at  first  "  governed  by  the 
common  council  of  the  presbyters^'  it  is  otherwise  destitute  of 
evidence.  As  soon  as  the  light  of  ecclesiastical  memorials 
begins  to  guide  our  path,  we  find  presbyteries  and  synods 
everywhere  in  existence.  Congregationalism  has  no  solid 
foundation  either  in  Scripture  or  antiquity.  The  eldership, 
the  most  ancient  court  of  the  Church,  commenced  with  the 
first  preaching  of  the  Gospel  ;  and  in  the  account  of  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Twelve  to  induct  the  deacons  into  ofifice,  we  have 
the  record  of  the  first  ordination  performed  by  the  laying  on 
of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery  of  Jerusalem.  A  few  years 
afterward  the  representatives  of  several  Christian  communi- 
ties assembled  in  the  holy  city  and  "  ordained  decrees  "  for 
the  guidance  of  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  Churches.  The  con- 
tinuous development  of  the  same  form  of  ecclesiastical  regimen 
has  now  been  illustrated.  This  polity  was  based  upon  the  prin- 
ciple that  "  in  the  multitude  of  counsellors  there  is  safety."  ' 
At  the  meetings  of  the  elders,  information  was  multiplied, 
the  intellect  was  sharpened,  the  brethren  were  made  better 
acquainted  with  each  other,  and  the  Christian  cause  enjoyed 
the  benefit  of  the  decisions  of  their  collective  wisdom.  The 
members  had  been  previously  elected  to  ofifice  by  the  voice  of 
the  people,  so  that  the  Church  had  pre-eminently  a  free  con- 
stitution. And  it  is  no  mean  proof  as  well  of  the  intrepidity 
as  of  the  zeal  of  the  early  Christian  ministers  that,  at  a  time 
when  their  religion  was  proscribed,  they  sometimes  undertook 
lengthened  journeys  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  in  ecclesiasti- 
cal judicatories.  They  thus  nobly  asserted  the  principle  that 
Christ  has  established  in  His  Church  a  government  with  which 
the  civil  magistrate  has  no  right  whatever  to  intermeddle.     It 

»  Prov..xi.  14. 


SYNODS   PERVERTED   BY   THE   CITY   BISHOPS.  567 

lias  been  said  that  the  early  Christian  councils  "  changed 
nearly  the  whole  form  of  the  Church,"  and  that  by  them  "  the 
influence  and  authority  of  the  bishops  were  not  a  little  aug- 
mented.'" This  is  obviously  quite  a  mistaken  view  of  their 
native  tendency.  The  face  of  the  Church  was  changed  at  an 
early  period,  simply  because  these  councils  yielded  with  too 
much  facility  to  the  spirit  of  innovation.  Had  they  been 
always  conducted  in  accordance  with  primitive  arrangements, 
they  could  have  crushed  in  the  bud  the  aspirations  of  clerical 
ambition.  But  when  the  city  ministers  were  rapidly  accumu- 
lating wealth,  their  brethren  in  rural  districts  remained  poor  ; 
and  when  councils  began  to  meet  on  a  scale  of  increased  mag- 
nitude, the  village  and  country  pastors,  who  could  not  afford 
the  expenses  of  lengthened  journeys,  were  unable  to  attend. 
Meanwhile  Prelacy  established  itself  in  the  great  towns,  and 
the  influence  of  the  city  bishops  began  gradually  to  prepon- 
derate in  all  ecclesiastical  assemblies.  When  the  prelates  had 
once  secured  their  ascendency  in  these  conventions,  they  made 
use  of  the  machinery  for  their  own  purposes.  The  people 
were  deprived  of  many  of  their  rights  and  privileges ;  the 
elders  were  stripped  of  their  proper  status  ;  the  village  and 
rural  bishops  were  extinguished ;  and  at  length  the  ancient 
presbytery  itself  disappeared.  The  city  dignitaries  became 
the  sole  depositories  of  ecclesiastical  power,  and  the  Church 
lost  nearly  every  vestige  of  its  freedom.  But,  long  after  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  many  remnants  of  the  primi- 
tive polity  still  survived  as  memorials  of  its  departed  excel- 
lence. 

1  Mosheim's  "  Institutes,"  by  Soames,  i.  150. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    CEREMONIES    AND    DISCIPLINE    OF    THE    CHURCH    AS 

ILLUSTRATED    BY    CURRENT    CONTROVERSIES 

AND    DIVISIONS. 

When  the  Christian  community  was  contending  against  the 
Gnostics,  other  controversies  contributed  to  prejudice  its 
claims  in  the  sight  of  the  heathen.  The  destruction  of  the 
temple  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus  had  prevented  the  sticklers  for 
the  Mosaic  law  from  practicing  many  of  their  ancient  cere- 
monies;  but  there  were  parts  of  their  ritual,  such  as  circum- 
cision, to  which  they  still  adhered,  as  these  could  be  observed 
when  the  altar  and  the  sanctuary  no  longer  existed.  In  the 
reign  of  Hadrian  a  division  of  sentiment  relative  to  the  continued 
obligation  of  the  Levitical  code  led  to  a  great  change  in  the 
mother  Church  of  Christendom.  About  A.D.  132,  an  advent- 
urer, named  Barcochebas,  pretending  to  be  the  Messiah,  and 
aiming  at  temporal  dominion,  appeared  in  Palestine ;  the 
Jews,  in  great  numbers,  flocked  to  his  standard  ;  and  the  rebel 
chief  contrived  for  three  years  to  maintain  a  bloody  war 
against  the  strength  of  the  Roman  legions.  The  Israelitish 
race,  by  their  conduct  at  this  juncture,  grievously  offended  the 
Emperor;  and  when  he  rebuilt  Jerusalem,  under  the  name  of 
Aelia  Capitolina,  he  threatened  them  with  the  severest  pen- 
alties should  they  be  found  either  in  the  city  or  the  suburbs. 
Some  of  the  Jewish  Christians  of  the  place,  anxious  to  escape 
the  proscription,  resolved  to  give  up  altogether  the  observance 
of  circumcision.  Others,  however,  objected  to  this  course,  and 
persisted  in  maintaining  the  permanent  obligation  of  the 
Mosaic  ritual.  The  dissentients,  called  Nazarenes,  formed 
themselves  into  a  separate  community,  which  obtained  ad- 
(5O8) 


THE   NAZARENES.  569 

herents  elsewhere,  and  subsisted  for  several  centuries.  At 
first  they  differed  from  other  Christians  chiefly  in  their  ad- 
herence to  the  initiatory  ordinance  of  Judaism;  but  eventu- 
ally they  adopted  erroneous  principles  in  regard  to  the  person 
of  our  Lord,  and  were  in  consequence  ranked  among  heretics." 
In  the  history  of  the  Church,  the  Nazarenes  occupy  a  sin- 
gular and  unique  position.  Their  name  is  among  the  earliest 
designations  by  which  the  followers  of  our  Saviour  were  known,' 
and  though  by  many  they  have  been  called  the  First  Dis- 
senters, they  were  the  lineal  descendants  of  the  most  ancient 
stock  of  Christians  in  the  world.  The  rite  for  which  they  con- 
tended had  been  practiced  in  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  since 
its  very  establishment ;  the  ministers  by  whom  they  had  been 
taught  had  been  instructed  by  the  apostles  themselves ;  and 
all  the  elders  connected  with  the  holy  city  joined  the  seces- 
sion. It  is  alleged  that  a  number  of  Christians  of  Gentile 
origin,  uniting  with  those  of  their  brethren  of  Jewish  descent 
who  agreed  to  relinquish  the  Hebrew  ceremonies,  chose  an 
individual,  named  Marcus,  for  their  chief  pastor,  and  that  at 
this  period  the  succession  in  the  line  of  the  circumcision 
"  failed." "  This  statement  can  not  signify  that  some  dire 
calamity  had  swept  away  all  the  old  presbytery  of  Jerusalem. 
It  indicates  that  none  of  its  members  joined  the  party  whose 
principles  now  obtained  the  ascendency.  And  yet,  though 
the  adherents  of  Marcus  were  charged  with  innovation,  they 
acted  under  the  sanction  of  apostolical  authority.  They  very 
properly  refused  to  continue  any  longer  in  bondage  to  the 
beggarly  elements  of  a  ritual  long  since  superseded.  Though 
the  seceders  could  urge  that  they  were  of  apostolical  descent, 
and  that  they  were  supported  by  ancient  custom,  it  must  be 
admitted,  after  all,  that  they  were  but  a  company  of  deluded 
and  narrow-minded  bigots.  The  evangelical  pastors  of  the 
primitive  Church  repudiated  their  zeal  for  ritualism,  and  gave 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to  Marcus  and  his  newly-organ- 

1  See  Mosheim's  "  Commentaries,"  cent,  ii.,  sec.  39;  American  edition  by 
Murdock. 

'  Acts  xxiv.  5.  *  Euseb.  iv.  5. 


570  THE   NAMES   EASTER   AND   WHITSUNDAY. 

ized  community.  The  history  of  the  mother  Church  of 
Christendom  in  the  early  part  of  the  second  century  is  thus 
fraught  with  lessons  of  the  gravest  wisdom.  We  see  from  it 
that  the  true  successors  of  the  apostles  were  not  those  who 
occupied  their  seats,  or  who  were  able  to  trace  from  them  a 
ministerial  lineage,  but  those  who  inherited  their  spirit,  taught 
their  doctrines,  and  imitated  their  example. 

Though,  in  this  instance,  the  disciples  at  Jerusalem  nobly 
emancipated  themselves  from  the  yoke  of  circumcision,  it  ap- 
pears, from  a  controversy  which  created  great  confusion  sixty 
years  afterward,  that  the  whole  Church  was  disposed,  to  some 
extent,  to  conform  to  another  Judaic  ordinance.  The  embers 
of  this  dispute  had  been  for  some  time  smouldering  before 
they  attracted  much  notice ;  but,  about  the  termination  of  the 
second  century,  they  broke  out  into  a  flame  which  spread  from 
Rome  to  Jerusalem.  The  name  of  Easter'  was  yet  unknown, 
and  the  Paschal  feast,  at  least  in  some  places,  had  been  then 
only  recently  established ;  but  at  an  early  period  there  was  a 
sprinkling  of  Jewish  Christians  in  almost  every  Church 
throughout  the  Empire,  and  they  had  at  length  induced  their 
fellow-disciples  to  mark  the  seasons  of  the  Passover  and  Pen- 
tecost^ by  certain  special  observances.  The  Passover  was  re- 
garded as  the  more  solemn  feast,  and  was  kept  by  the  Chris- 
tians in  much  the  same  way  in  which  it  had  been  celebrated 
by  the  Jews  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  A  lamb  was  shut 
up  on  a  certain  day ;  it  was  afterward  roasted  ;  and  then  eaten 
by  the  brotherhood.'    The  time  for  this  observance,  and  some 

'  The  English  name  Easter  is  derived  from  that  of  a  Teutonic  goddess 
(Eostre)  whose  festival  was  celebrated  by  the  ancient  Saxons  in  the  month 
of  April,  and  for  which  the  Paschal  feast  was  substituted.  See  Sharon  Tur- 
ner's "  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,"  ii.  15. 

'  Pentecost,  called  Whitsunday  or  White-Sunday,  on  account,  as  some 
allege,  of  the  white  garments  worn  by  those  who  then  received  baptism, 
was  observed  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  third  century.  Origen,  "  Con- 
tra Celsum,"  book  vili.  Tertullian,  "  De  Idololatria,"  c.  14.  We  have  then 
no  trace  of  the  observation  of  Christmas.  See  Kaye's  "  Tertullian,"  p.  413. 
The  celebrated  Saxon  festival  of  Geol,  or  Jule,  occurred  at  the  period  of 
our  Christmas.     Sharon  Turner's  "  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,"  ii.  19. 

'See  Mosheim's  "Commentaries,"  by  Murdock,  cent,  ii.,  sec.  71.     Dr. 


VICTOR   AND   THE   QUARTO-DECIMANS.  571 

other  circumstantials,  now  formed  topics  of  earnest  and  pro- 
tracted discussion.  One  party,  known  as  the  Quarto-deci- 
mans,  or  Fourteenth  Day  Men,  held  that  the  Paschal  feast 
should  be  kept  on  the  day  when  the  Jews  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  eat  the  Passover,  that  is,  on  the  fourteenth  day  of 
the  first  month  of  the  Jewish  year; '  and  they  celebrated  the 
festival  of  the  resurrection  on  the  seventeenth  day  of  the 
month,  that  is,  on  the  third  day  after  partaking  of  the  Pas- 
chal lamb,  whether  that  happened  to  be  the  first  day  of  the 
week  or  otherwise.  The  other  party  strenuously  maintained 
that  the  eating  of  the  Paschal  lamb  ought  to  be  postponed  till 
the  night  preceding  the  first  Lord's  day  next  following  the 
fourteenth  day  of  the  first  month.  They  recognized  this  next 
Lord's  day  as  the  festival  of  our  Saviour's  resurrection,  and 
they  considered  that  the  whole  of  the  preceding  week  till  the 
close  should  be  kept  as  a  fast  not  to  be  interrupted  by  the 
eating  of  the  Passover. 

The  most  determined  Quarto-decimans  were  to  be  found  in 
Asia  Minor,  and  at  their  head  was  Polycrates,  the  chief  pastor 
of  Ephesus.  At  the  head  of  the  other  party  was  Victor,  bish- 
op of  Rome.  The  Church  over  which  he  presided  did  not 
originally  observe  any  such  appointment,"  but  some  of  its 
members  of  Jewish  extraction  were,  on  that  account,  dissatis- 
fied ;  and  about  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  Catholic 
system,  the  matter  was  settled  by  a  compromise.  It  was  then 
arranged  that  the  festival  should  be  kept ;  but  to  avoid  the 
imputation  of  symbolizing  with  the  Jews,  the  Friday  of  the 

Schaff  seems  disposed  to  deny  this,  but  he  assigns  no  reasons.  See  his 
"Hist,  of  the  Christ.  Church,"  p.  374. 

'  Even  as  to  this  point  there  is  not  unanimity — some  alleging  that  our 
Lord  partook  of  the  Paschal  lamb  on  the  night  preceding  that  on  which  it 
was  eaten  by  the  Jews. 

^  This  is  distinctly  asserted  by  Irenaeus.  "  Anicetus  and  Pius,  Hyginus 
with  Telesphorus  and  Xystus,  neither  did  themselves  observe,  nor  did  they 
permit  those  after  them  to  observe  it.  And  yet  though  they  themselves  did 
not  keep  it,  they  were  not  the  less  at  peace  with  those  from  churches  where 
it  was  kept,  whenever  they  came  to  them,  although  to  keep  it  then  was  so 
much  the  more  in  opposition  to  those  who  did  not." — Euseb.  v.  24.  See 
also  Cooper's  "  Free  Church  of  Ancient  Christendom,"  p.  247, 


572  UNCERTAINTY   OF   TRADITION. 

Paschal  week  and  the  Lord's  day  following,  or  the  day  on 
which  our  Saviour  suffered  and  the  day  on  which  He  rose 
from  the  dead,  were  selected  as  the  great  days  of  observance. 
This  arrangement  was  pretty  generally  accepted  by  those  con- 
nected with  what  now  began  to  be  called  the  Catholic  Church; 
but  some  parties  pertinaciously  refused  to  conform.  Victor, 
as  the  head  of  the  Catholic  confederation,  deemed  it  his  duty 
to  exact  obedience  from  all  its  members  ;  and,  deeply  morti- 
fied because  the  Asiatic  Churches  persisted  in  their  own 
usages,  shut  them  out  from  his  communion.  But  it  was 
soon  evident  that  the  Church  was  not  prepared  for  such  an 
exercise  of  authority,  as  the  Asiatics  refused  to  yield ;  and 
when  some  of  Victor's  best  friends  protested  against  the  im- 
prudence of  his  procedure,  the  ecclesiastical  thunderbolt 
proved  an  impotent  demonstration. 

The  Paschal  controversy  was  far  from  creditable  to  any  of 
the  parties  concerned.  The  eating  of  a  lamb  on  a  particular 
day  was  a  fragment  of  an  antiquated  ceremonial ;  and  as  the 
ordinance  itself  had  been  superseded,  the  time  of  its  observ- 
ance was  not  a  legitimate  question  for  debate.  Each  party 
endeavored  to  fortify  its  own  position  by  quoting  the  names 
of  Paul  or  Peter  or  Philip  or  John  ;  but  had  any  one  of  these 
apostles  risen  from  the  dead  and  appeared  in  the  ecclesiastical 
arena,  he  would  have  rebuked  all  the  disputants  for  their  triv- 
ial and  unholy  wrangling.  We  have  here  a  notable  proof  of 
the  absurdity  of  appealing  to  tradjtion.  Within  a  hundred 
years  after  the  death  of  the  last  survivor  of  the  Twelve  its  tes- 
timony was  most  discordant,  for  the  tradition  of  the  Western 
Churches,  as  propounded  by  Victor,  expressly  contradicted 
the  tradition  of  the  Eastern  Churches,  as  attested  by  Polyc- 
rates.  In  this  case  the  apostles  were  misrepresented.  Peter 
and  Paul  certainly  never  taught  the  members  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  to  eat  the  Paschal  lamb ;  for  the  Jewish  temple  con- 
tinued standing  till  after  both  had  finished  their  career,  and 
meanwhile  the  eating  of  the  Passover  was  confined  to  those 
who  went  up  to  worship  at  Jerusalem.  Philip  and  John  may 
have  continued  to  keep  the  feast  according  to  the  ancient  rit- 
ual till  shortly  before  the  ruin  of  the  holy  city;  and  if,  after- 


EASTER   FESTIVAL   UNNECESSARY.  573 

ward,  they  permitted  the  converts  from  Judaism  to  kill  a  lamb 
and  to  have  a  social  repast  at  the  same  season  of  the  year,  they 
attached  no  religious  importance  to  the  observance.  But  now 
that  both  parties  were  heated  by  the  spirit  of  rivalry  and  con- 
tention, they  extracted  from  tradition  a  testimony  which  it 
did  not  supply.  Vague  reports  and  equivocal  statements, 
handed  down  from  ages  preceding,  were  compelled  to  convey 
a  meaning  very  different  from  that  which  they  primarily  com- 
municated ;  and  thus  the  voice  of  one  tradition  was  employed 
to  neutralize  the  authority  of  another. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  custom  which  now  created  such 
violent  excitement  gradually  passed  into  desuetude.  At  pres- 
ent there  are  few  places'  where  the  eating  of  the  Paschal  lamb 
is  continued.  But  otherwise  the  practice  for  which  Victor 
contended  eventually  prevailed,  as  the  Roman  mode  of  cele- 
'bration  was  established  by  the  authority  of  the  Council  of 
Nice.  What  is  called  Easter  Sunday  is  still  observed  in 
many  Churches  as  the  festival  of  the  resurrection.  But  the 
institution  of  such  a  festival  is  unnecessary,  as  each  returning 
Lord's  day  should  remind  the  Christian  that  his  Saviour  has 
risen  from  the  dead  and  become  the  first-fruits  of  them  that 
sleep." 

This  Paschal  controversy  generated  no  schism,  but  other 
disputes,  which  subsequently  occurred,  did  not  terminate  so 
peacefully.  About  the  middle  of  the  third  century  disagree- 
ments respecting  matters  of  discipline  rent  the  Churches  of 

•  The  Armenians,  the  Copts,  and  others,  still  observe  this  rite.  Mosheim's 
"Comment.,"  cent,  ii.,  sec.  71.  As  to  the  continuance  of  this  custom  at 
Rome,  see  Bingham,  v.  36,  37. 

"^  Socrates,  an  ecclesiastical  historian  of  the  fifth  century,  has  expressed 
himself  with  remarkable  candor  on  this  subject.  "  It  appears  to  me,"  says 
he,  "  that  neither  the  ancients  nor  moderns  who  have  affected  to  follow  the 
Jews  have  had  any  rational  foundation  for  contending  so  obstinately  about 
it  (Easter).  For  they  have  altogether  lost  sight  of  the  fact  that  when  our 
religion  superseded  the  Jewish  economy,  the  obligation  to  observe  the  Mo- 
saic law  and  the  ceremonial  types  ceased The  Saviour  and  His  apos- 
tles have  enjoined  us  by  no  law  to  keep  this  feast :  nor  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment are  we  threatened  with  any  penalty,  punishment,  or  curse  for  the  neg- 
lect of  it,  as  the  Mosaic  law  does  the  Jews." — Ecc.  Hist.,  v.,  c.  22. 


574  THE   LAPSED   AND   THE   TICKETS   OF   PEACE. 

Carthage  and  Rome.  At  Carthage,  the  malcontents  sought 
for  greater  laxity  ;  at  Rome,  they  contended  for  greater  strict- 
ness. At  that  time  the  confessors  and  the  martyrs,  or  those 
who  had  persevered  in  their  adherence  to  the  faith  under 
pains  and  penalties,  and  those  who  had  suffered  for  it  unto 
death,  were  held  in  the  highest  veneration.  They  had  been 
even  permitted  in  some  places  to  dictate  to  the  existing  eccle- 
siastical rulers  by  granting  what  were  z^XX^^  tickets  of  peace  ^ 
to  the  lapsed,  that  is,  to  those  who  had  apostatized  in  a  season 
of  persecution,  and  who  had  afterward  sought  readmission 
to  Church  communion.  These  certificates,  or  tickets  of  peace, 
were  understood  to  entitle  the  parties  in  whose  favor  they  were 
drawn  up  to  be  admitted  forthwith  to  the  Lord's  Supper. 
But  it  sometimes  happened  that  a  confessor  or  a  martyr  was 
himself  far  from  a  paragon  of  excellence,^  as  mere  obstinacy, 
or  pride,  or  self-righteousness,  may  occasionally  hold  out  as 
firmly  as  a  higher  principle ;  and  a  man  may  give  hisbody  to 
be  burned  who  does  not  possess  one  atom  of  the  grace  of 
Christian  charity.  There  were  confessors  and  martyrs  in  the 
third  century  who  held  very  loose  views  on  the  subject  of 
Church  discipline,  and  who  gave  tickets  of  peace  without 
much  inquiry  or  consideration.'  In  some  instances  they  did 
not  condescend  so  far  as  to  name  the  parties  to  whom  they 
supplied  recommendations,  but  directed  that  a  particular  in- 
dividual "  and  his  friends"  '  should  be  restored  to  ecclesiastical 
fellowship.  Cyprian  of  Carthage  at  length  determined  to  set  his 
face  against  this  system  of  testimonials.  He  held  that  the  ticket 
of  a  martyr  was  no  sufificient  proof  of  the  penitence  of  the  party 

'  This  system  was  in  existence  in  the  time  of  Tertullian.  See  Tertullian, 
"  Ad.  Martyr."  c.  i,  and  "  De  Pudicitia,"  c.  22. 

'  Cyprian  speaks  of  a  confessor  spending  his  time  "  in  drunkenness  and 
revelling"  {Epist.  vi.,  p.  37),  and  of  some  guilty  of  "fraud,  fornication,  and 
adultery."     {De  Unit.  Ecc,  p.  404.) 

'  Thus  Cyprian  says,  "  Lucianus,  not  only  while  Paulus  was  still  in  prison, 
gave  letters  in  his  name  indiscriminatrly  written  with  his  own  hand,  but 
even  after  his  decease  cox\\\w\x^i\  to  do  the  same  in  his  name,  saying  that  he 
had  been  ordered  to  do  so  by  Paulus." — Epist.  xxii.,  p.  ^^. 

*  Cyprian,  Epist.  x.,  p.  52. 


THE   SCHISM   OF   FELICISSIMUS.  5/5 

who  tendered  it,  and  that  each  application  for  readmission  to 
membership  should  be  decided  on  its  own  merits,  by  the  proper 
Church  authorities.  The  bishop  was  already  obnoxious  to 
some  of  the  presbyters  and  people  of  Carthage ;  and,  in  the 
hope  of  undermining  his  authority,  his  enemies  eagerly  seized 
on  his  refusal  to  recognize  these  certificates.  They  endeavored 
to  create  a  prejudice  against  him  by  alleging  that  he  was  act- 
ing dictatorially,  and  that  he  was  not  rendering  due  honor  to 
those  who  had  so  nobly  imperilled  or  sacrificed  their  lives  in 
the  service  of  the  Gospel.  To  a  certain  extent  their  oppo- 
sition was  successful ;  and,  as  much  sickness  prevailed  at  the 
time,  Cyprian  was  obliged  to  concede  so  far  as  to  consent  to 
give  the  Eucharist,  on  the  tickets  of  peace,  to  those  who  had 
lapsed,  and  who  were  apparently  approaching  dissolution. 
But,  soon  afterward,  strengthened  by  the  decision  of  an 
African  Synod,  he  returned  to  his  original  position,  and  the 
parties  now  became  hopelessly  alienated.  The  leader  of  the 
secession  was  a  deacon  of  the  Carthaginian  Church,  named 
Felicissimus,  and  from  him  the  schism  which  occurred  has  re- 
ceived its  designation.  The  Separatists  chose  a  presbyter, 
named  Fortunatus,  as  their  bishop,  and  thus  in  the  capital  of 
the  Proconsular  Africa  a  new  sect  was  organized.  But  the  se- 
cession, which  was  based  upon  a  principle  thoroughly  unsound, 
soon  dwindled  into  insignificance,  and  rapidly  passed  into  ob 
livion. 

The  schism  which  occurred  about  the  same  time  at  Rome 
was  of  a  more  formidable  and  permanent  character.  It  had 
long  been  the  opinion  of  a  certain  party  in  the  Church  that 
persons  who  had  committed  certain  heinous  sins  should  never 
again  be  readmitted  to  ecclesiastical  fellowship.'  Those  who 
held  this  principle  did  not  pretend  to  say  that  these  transgres- 
sions were  unpardonable ;  it  was  admitted  that  the  offenders 
might  obtain  forgiveness  from  God ;  but  it  was  alleged  that 
the  Church  on  earth  could  never  receive  them  to  communion. 

'  Apostasy  in  time  of  persecution  was  considered  a  mortal  sin.  Adultery 
was  placed  in  the  same  category.  Cyprian,  Epist.  Hi.,  p.  155.  At  one  time 
Cyprian  himself  held  the  sentiments  of  the  stricter  party.  See  his  "  Script- 
ure Testimonies  against  the  Jews,"  book  iii.,  §  28,  p.  563. 


576  THE   SCHISM   OF   NOVATIAN. 

Cornelius,  the  bishop  of  Rome,  supported  a  milder  system, 
and  contended  that  those  who  were  not  hopelessly  excluded 
from  the  peace  of  God  should  not  be  inexorably  debarred 
from  the  visible  pledges  of  his  affection.  The  leader  of  the 
stricter  party  was  Novatian,  a  Roman  presbyter  of  pure  morals 
and  considerable  ability,  who  has  left  behind  him  one  of  the 
best  treatises  in  defence  of  the  Trinity  which  the  ecclesiastical 
literature  of  antiquity  can  supply.  This  individual  was  or- 
dained bishop  in  opposition  to  Cornelius;  and,  for  a  time, 
some  of  the  most  distinguished  pastors  of  the  age  found  it 
difficult  to  decide  between  these  two  claimants  of  the  great 
bishopric.  The  high  character  of  Novatian,  and  the  supposed 
tendency  of  his  discipline  to  preserve  the  credit  and  promote 
the  purity  of  the  Church,  secured  him  considerable  support ;  the 
sect  which  derived  its  designation  from  him  spread  into  various 
countries  ;  and,  for  several  generations,  the  Novatians  could 
challenge  comparison,  as  to  soundness  in  the  faith  and  pro- 
priety of  general  conduct,  with  those  who  assumed  the  name 
of  Catholics. 

The  agitation  caused  by  the  Novatian  schism  had  not  yet 
subsided  when  another  controversy  respecting  the  propriety 
of  rebaptizing  those  designated  heretics  created  immense  ex- 
citement. Cyprian  at  the  head  of  one  party  meintained  that 
the  baptism  of  heretical  ministers  was  not  to  be  recognized, 
and  that  the  ordinance  should  again  be  dispensed  to  such 
sectaries  as  sought  admission  to  catholic  communion ;  whilst 
Stephen  of  Rome  as  strenuously  affirmed  that  the  rite  was 
not  to  be  repeated.  It  is  rather  singular  that  the  Italian  prel- 
ate, on  this  occasion,  pleaded  for  the  more  liberal  principle; 
but  various  considerations  conspired  to  prompt  him  to  pursue 
this  course.  When  heresies  were  only  germinating,  and  when 
what  was  afterward  called  the  Catholic  Church  was  but  in 
process  of  formation,  no  one  seems  to  have  thought  of  re- 
baptizing  those  to  whom  the  ordinance  had  already  been  dis- 
pensed  by  any  reputed  Christian  minister.'     In  the   time  of 

'  The  imposition  of  hands,  by  an  orthodox  pastor,  was  deemed  sulTicient 
to  make  up  what  was  wanting  in  the  heretical  baptism.     See  Euseb.  vii.  2. 


THE   BAPTISMAL  CONTROVERSY.  577 

Hyginus  of  Rome,  even  the  baptism  of  the  leading  ministers 
of  the  Gnostics  was  acknowledged  by  the  chief  pastor  of 
the  Western  metropolis.'  The  Church  of  Rome  had  ever 
since  continued  to  act  on  the  same  system  ;  and  her  determi- 
nation to  adhere  to  it  had  been  fortified,  rather  than  weakened, 
by  recent  occurrences.  As  the  Novatians  had  set  out  on  the 
principle  of  rebaptizing  all  who  joined  them,^  Stephen  recoiled 
from  the  idea  of  deviating  from  the  ancient  practice  to  follow 
in  their  footsteps.  But  Cyprian,  who  was  naturally  of  a  very 
imperious  temper,  and  who  had  formed  most  extravagant 
notions  of  the  dignity  of  the  Catholic  Church,  could  not 
brook  the  thought  that  the  ministers  connected  with  the 
schism  of  Felicissimus  dispensed  any  baptism  at  all.  He 
imagined  that  the  honor  of  the  party  to  which  he  belonged 
was  irretrievably  compromised  by  such  an  admission,  and  he 
was  sustained  in  these  views  by  a  strong  party  of  African  and 
Asiatic  bishops.  On  this  occasion  Stephen  repeated  the  ex- 
periment made  sixty  years  before  by  his  predecessor,  Victor, 
and  attempted  to  reduce  his  antagonists  to  acquiescence  by 
excluding  them  from  his  fellowship.  But  this  second  effort 
to  enforce  ecclesiastical  conformity  was  equally  unsuccessful. 
It  only  provoked  an  outburst  of  indignation,  as  the  parties  in 
favor  of  rebaptizing  refused  to  give  way.  This  controversy 
led,  however,  to  the  broad  assertion  of  a  principle  which 
might  not  otherwise  have  been  brought  out  so  distinctly,  foi 
it  was  frequently  urged  during  the  course  of  the  discussion 
that  all  pastors  stand  upon  a  basis  of  equality,  and  that  the 
bishop  of  a  little  African  village  had  intrinsically  as  good  a 
right  to  think  and  to  act  for  himself  as  the  bishop  of  the  great 
capital  of  the  Empire. 

It  is  very  clear  that  at  this  time  the  unity  of  the  Church  did 
not  consist  in  the  uniformity  of  its  discipline  and  ceremonies. 
The  believers  at  Jerusalem  continued  to  practice  circumcision 
nearly  a  century  after  the  establishment  of  Gentile  Churches  in 
which  the  rite  was  unknown.     On  the  question  of  rebaptizing 

*  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixxiii.,  p.  279,  and  Ixxiv.,  p.  295. 

*  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixxiii.,  pp.  277,  278. 
37 


578  DIVERSITY   OF   DISCIPLINE   AND   CEREMONIES. 

heretics  the  Churches  of  Africa  and  Asia  Minor  were  diametri- 
cally opposed  to  the  Church  of  Rome  and  other  communities 
in  the  West.  As  to  the  mode  of  observing  the  Paschal  feast  a 
still  greater  diversity  existed.  According  to  the  testimony  of 
Irenaeus  there  was  nothing  approaching  to  uniformity  in  the 
practice  of  the  various  societies  with  which  he  was  acquainted. 
"  The  dispute,"  said  he,  "  is  not  only  respecting  the  day,  but 
also  respecting  the  mamter  of  fasting.  For  some  think  that 
they  ought  to  fast  only  one  day,  some  two,  some  more  days ; 
some  compute  their  day  as  consisting  of  forty  hours  night  and 
day  ; '  and  this  diversity  existing  among  those  that  observe  it, 
is  not  a  matter  that  has  just  sprung  up  in  our  times,  but  long 
ago  among  those  before  us," '  When  Cyprian  refused  to  ad- 
mit the  lapsed  to  the  Lord's  Supper  on  the  strength  of  the 
tickets  of  peace  furnished  by  the  confessors  and  the  martyrs, 
he  departed  from  the  course  previously  adopted  in  Carthage  ; 
and  when  Novatian  excluded  them  altogether  from  commun- 
ion, he  acted  on  a  principle  not  then  novel.  There  was  at  that 
time  quite  as  much  diversity  in  discipline  and  ceremonies 
among  Christians  as  is  now  to  be  found  in  evangelical  Protes- 
tant Churches. 

As  we  descend  from  the  apostolic  age,  the  spirit  of  the 
dominant  body  betrays  a  growing  want  of  Christian  charity. 
There  soon  appeared  a  disposition  to  monopolize  religion,  and 
to  disown  such  as  did  not  adopt  a  .certain  ecclesiastical  Shib- 
boleth. When  the  great  mass  of  Christians  were  organized  in- 
to the  Catholic  Church,  the  chief  pastors  branded  with  the  odi- 
ous name  of  heretics  all  who  did  not  belong  to  their  associa- 
tion. The  Nazarenes  originally  held  the  great  doctrines  of  the 
Gospel;  but  they  soon  found  themselves  in  the  list  of  the  pro- 
scribed, and  gradually  degenerat'ed  into  abettors  of  very  cor- 
rupt principles.  Those  members  of  the  Church  of  Carthage 
who  joined  Felicissimus  acted  on  principles  which  the  pred- 
ecessors even  of  Cyprian  had  sanctioned,  and  yet  the  African 
prelate    denounced    them    as    beyond    the    pale    of    divine 

'  In  Stieren's  *'  Irenasus,"  i.  824,  there  is  a  diiTerent  reading  of  this  pas- 
sage, according  to  which  some  continued  the  fast  forty  days. 
'  Euscb.  V.  24. 


ILLIBERALITY   OF   THE   CATHOLICS.  579 

mercy,  Novatian  was  not  less  orthodox  than  Cornelius ;  but 
because  he  contended  for  a  system  of  discipline  which,  though 
not  unprecedented,  was  deemed  by  his  rival  too  austere,  and 
because  he  organized  a  party  to  support  him,  he  also  was 
stigmatized  with  the  designation  of  heretic.  The  Quarto- 
decimans,  as  well  as  those  who  contended  for  Catholic  rebap- 
tism,  must  have  been  classed  in  the  same  list,  had  they  not 
formed  numerous  and  powerful  confederations.  Thus  it  was 
that  those  called  Catholics  were  taught  to  cherish  a  contracted 
spirit,  and  to  look  on  all,  except  their  own  party,  as  out  of  the 
reach  of  salvation.  Their  false  conceptions  of  what  properly 
constituted  the  Church  involved  them  in  many  errors  and 
tended  to  vitiate  their  entire  theology.  But  this  subject,  too 
important  to  be  discussed  in  a  few  cursory  remarks,  is  reserved 
for  consideration  in  a  separate  chapter. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE    THEORY    OF  THE    CHURCH,   AND   THE    HISTORY   OF   ITS 
PERVERSION. — CONCLUDING    OBSERVATIONS. 

'*  I  AM  the  good  Shepherd,"  said  Jesus:  "the  good  Shep- 
herd giveth  his  \i(e  /or  tJie  sheep My  sheep  hear  my  voice, 

and  I  know  them,  and  they  folloiv  me:  and  I  give  unto  them 
eternal  Hfe,  and  they  shall  never  perish^  '  The  sheep  here 
spoken  of  are  the  true  children  of  God.  They  constitute  that 
blessed  community  of  which  it  is  written,  "  Christ  loved  the 
Church,  and  gave  himself  for  it,  that  he  might  sanctify  and 
cleanse  it  with  the  washing  of  water  by  the  word,  that  he 
might  present  it  to  himself  a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot 
or  wrinkle  or  any  such  thing,  but  that  it  should  be  holy  and 
without  blemish.''^ 

The  society  thus  described  is,  in  the  highest  sense,  "  the 
holy  Catholic  Church."  Its  members  are  to  be  found  wherever 
genuine  piety  exists,  and  they  are  all  united  to  Christ  by  the 
bond  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Their  Divine  Overseer  has  promised 
to  be  with  them  "  alway  unto  the  end  of  the  world,"'  to  keep 
them  "  through  faith  unto  salvation,"  *  and  to  sustain  them 
even  against  the  violence  of  "  the  gates  of  hell."  ^  Though 
they  are  scattered  throughout  diffei;cnt  countries,  and  sepa- 
rated by  various  barriers  of  ecclesiastical  division,  they  have 
the  elements  of  concord.  Could  they  be  brought  together, 
and  divested  of  their  prejudices,  and  made  fully  acquainted 
with  each  other's  sentiments,  they  would  speedily  incorporate; 
for  they  possess  "  the  unity  of  the  Spirit," '  "  the  unity  of  the 

'  John  X.  II,  27,  28.  '^  Eph.  v.  25-27.  *  Matt,  xxviii.  20. 

*  I  Pet.  i.  5.  '  Matt.  xvi.  i8.  •  Eph.  iv.  3. 

(580) 


THE   CHURCH   VISIBLE   AND   INVISIBLE.  581 

faith,"  '  and  "  the  unity  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God." 
But  these  heirs  of  promise  can  not  be  distinguished  by  the  eye 
of  sense  ;  their  true  character  can  be  known  infalHbly  only  to 
the  Great  Searcher  of  hearts ;  and  for  this,  among  other  rea- 
sons, the  spiritual  commonwealth  to  which  they  belong  is 
usually  designated  "  ^/te  Church  invisible^  ' 

The  visible  Church  is  composed,  to  a  considerable  extent,  of 
very  different  materials.  It  embraces  the  whole  mixed  mul- 
titude of  nominal  Christians,  including  not  a  few  who  exhibit 
no  evidence  whatever  of  vital  godliness.  Our  Lord  describes 
'it  in  one  of  His  parables  when  He  says,  "  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  like  unto  a  net  which  was  cast  into  the  sea,  and 
gathered  of  every  kind  ;  which  when  it  was  full,  they  drew  to 
shore,  and  sat  down,  and  gathered  the  good  into  vessels,  but 
cast  the  bad  away.  So  shall  it  be  at  the  end  of  the  world : 
the  angels  shall  come  forth,  and  sever  the  wicked  from  among 
the  just,  and  shall  cast  them  into  the  furnace  of  fire;  there 
shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth."  * 

In  the  first  century  the  profession  of  Christianity  was  peril- 
ous as  well  as  unpopular,  so  that  the  number  of  spurious  dis- 
ciples was  comparatively  small ;  and  so  long  as  the  brethren 
enjoyed  the  ministrations  of  inspired  teachers,  all  attempts  to 
alienate  them  from  each  other,  or  to  create  schisms,  had  little 
success.  But  still,  even  when  the  apostles  were  on  earth, 
some  of  the  Churches  planted  and  watered  by  themselves 
were  involved  in  error,  and  agitated  by  the  spirit  of  division, 
"  It  hath  been  declared  unto  me  of  you,"  says  Paul  to  the 
Corinthians,  "  that  there  are  contentions  among  you.  Now 
this  I  say,  that  every  one  of  you  saith,  I  am  of  Paul,  and  I  of 

'  Eph.  iv,  13.  "^  Eph.  iv.  13. 

'  No  writer  since  the  Reformation  has  discussed  the  subject  of  the  Church 
with  more  learning  and  ability  than  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hodge,  of  Princeton. 
Those  who  wish  to  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with  all  the  bearings  of  the 
question  should  consult  his  "Essays  and  Reviews,"  New  York,  1857.  Also 
the  Princeton  Review.  See  also  an  article  of  his  taken  from  the 
Princeton  Review  in  the  British  and  Foreign  Evangelical  Review  for 
Sept.,  1854. 

*  Matt.  xiii.  47-50. 


582  THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH. 

Apollos,  and  I  of  Cephas,  and  I  of  Christ."  '  The  same  writer 
had  occasion  to  mourn  over  the  apostasy  of  the  Churches  of 
Galatia.  "  I  marvel,"  said  he,  "  that  ye  are  so  soon  removed 
from  him  that  called  you  into  the  grace  of  Christ  unto  another 

Gospel O  foolish  Galatians,  who  hath  bewitched  you 

that  ye  should  not  obey  the  truth  ?  "  "  The  Church  of  Sardis 
in  the  lifetime  of  the  Apostle  John  had  sunk  into  an  equally 
deplorable  condition,  and  hence  he  was  commissioned  to  de- 
clare to  it,  "  I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name  that 
thou  livest,  a?td  art  dead."  ' 

The  circumstances  which  led  to  the  organization  of  the 
Catholic  system  have  already  been  detailed,  and  it  has  been 
shown  that  the  great  design  of  the  arrangement  was  to  secure 
the  visible  unity  of  the  ecclesiastical  commonwealth.  The 
Catholic  confederation  was  supposed  to  comprehend  all  the 
faithful ;  and  it  was  expected  that,  not  long  after  its  establish- 
ment, it  would  ring  the  death-knell  of  schism  and  sectarian- 
ism. According  to  its  fundamental  principle,  whoever  was  not 
in  communion  with  the  bishop  was  out  of  the  Church.  To  be 
out  of  the  Church  was  considered  tantamount  to  be  without 
God  and  without  hope,  so  that  this  test  condemned  all  who 
in  any  way  dissented  from  the  dominant  creed  as  beyond  the 
pale  of  salvation.  Its  assumptions,  involving  a  decision  of 
such  grave  importance  and  such  dubious  authority,  were  ac- 
knowledged with  some  difficulty ;  and  the  question  as  to  the 
extent  and  character  of  the  Church  led  to  considerable  dis- 
cussion ;  *  but  the  horror  of  heresy,  which  so  generally  pre- 
vailed, strengthened  the  pretensions  of  the  hierarchy ;  and  at 
length  every  candidate  for  baptism  was  required  to  declare,  as 
one  of  the  articles  of  his  faith,  "  I  believe  in  the  holy  Catholic 
Church."  ' 

According  to  one  interpretation  the  sentiment  embodied  in 
this  profession  was  perfectly  unobjectionable.  If  by  the  holy 
Catholic  Church  we  understand  the  Church  invisible  composed 

'  I  Cor.  i.  n,  12.  «  Gal.  i.  6,  iii.  i.  ^  Rev.  iii.  i. 

*  Thus,  Melito  of  Sardis  wrote  a  work  "  On  the  Church."     Euseb.  iv.  26. 
'  Apostles'  Creed.      For  another  form  see  Bunsen's  "  Hippolytus,"  iii. 
25.  27. 


NO   SALVATION   OUT   OF   THE   CHURCH.  583 

of  all  the  true  children  of  God,  every  devout  student  of  the 
Scriptures  is  bound  to  express  his  belief  in  its  existence  and 
its  excellence.  This  Church  is  precious  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Lord  ;  it  is  the  habitation  of  His  Spirit;  and  the  heir  of  His 
great  and  glorious  promises.  But  the  holy  Catholic  Church, 
in  the  current  ecclesiastical  phraseology  of  the  third  century, 
had  a  very  different  signification.  It  denoted  the  great  mass 
of  disciples  associated  under  the  care  of  the  Catholic  bishops, 
as  distinguished  from  all  the  minor  sects  throughout  the  Em- 
pire which  made  a  profession  of  Christianity.  A  sincere  and 
intelligent  believer  might  well  have  scrupled  to  give  such  a 
title  to  the  mixed  society  thus  claiming  its  application. 

It  is  quite  true  that  there  is  no  salvation  out  of  the  Church, 
if  by  the  Church  is  meant  that  elect  company  which  Christ 
died  to  redeem  and  sanctify ;  but  the  Word  of  God  does  not 
warrant  us  to  assert  that  the  eternal  well-being  of  man  de- 
pends on  his  connection  with  any  earthly  society.  Even  in 
the  days  of  the  apostles,  some  who  were  subjected  to  a  sen- 
tence of  excommunication  were  the  excellent  of  the  earth. 
"  I  wrote  unto  the  Church"  says  John,  "but  Diotrephes,  who 
loveth  to  have  the  pre-eminence  among  them,  receiveth  us  not. 
Wherefore,  if  I  come,  I  will  remember  his  deeds  which  he 
doeth,  prating  against  us  with  malicious  words,  and  not  con- 
tent therewith,  neither  doth  he  himself  receive  the  brethren, 
and  forbiddeth  them  that  would,  and  casteth  them  out  of  the 
Churchy  ^  This  Diotrephes  seems  to  have  been  some  way- 
ward and  domineering  presbyter  who  took  the  lead  among  his 
fellow-elders,  and  who  induced  them  by  the  influence  of  com- 
manding talent,  combined  with  superior  worldly  station,  to 
support  him  in  his  wilfulness.'  But  it  is  very  foolish  to  sup- 
pose that  the  brethren  who  were  thus  cast  out  of  the  Church 
were  thereby  eternally  undone,  for  such  certainly  was  not  the 
judgment  of  the  beloved  disciple.     Faith  in  Christ,  and  not 

'  3  John  9,  10. 

'^  He  appears,  for  certain  reasons  now  unknown,  to  have  been  dissatisfied 
with  some  disciples  who  had  been  engaged  in  missionary  work  ;  and  he  had 
influence  sufficient  to  procure  the  excommunication  of  the  brethren  who 
entertained  them. 


584       THE   TRUE   CHURCH    NOT   THE   CHURCH   VISIBLE. 

a  relation  to  any  visible  society,  secures  a  title  to  heaven. 
Thousands,  admitted  into  Paradise,  like  the  thief  on  the  cross, 
have  never  been  baptized ;  '  and  we  might  point  out  number- 
less cases  of  individuals  in  the  wonderful  providence  of  God 
led  to  a  saving  knowledge  of  the  truth,  who  have  never  had 
an  opportunity  of  joining  a  congregation  of  Christian  worship- 
pers. But  those  who  assumed  the  name  of  Catholics  were 
continuatly  dwelling  on  the  importance  of  a  connection  with 
their  own  association ;  and,  assuming  that  they  were  the 
Church,  they  appropriated  to  themselves  whatever  they  found 
in  Scripture  in  commendation  of  its  excellence.  The  prom- 
ises addressed  to  the  Church  in  the  book  of  inspiration  refer, 
however,  not  to  any  local  and  visible  community,  but  to  the 
"  Church  of  the  first-born  which  are  written  in  heaven  ";  ^  and 
the  Catholics,  by  misapplying  them,  were  led  to  form  very  ex- 
travagant notions  of  the  advantages  of  their  position.  The 
ascription  of  the  attributes  of  the  Church  invisible  to  their 
own  association  was  the  fundamental  misconception  on  which 
a  vast  fabric  of  error  was  erected.  By  reason  of  the  indwell- 
ing of  the  Spirit  in  all  believers  the  Church  invisible  is  catholic, 
or  universal,  that  is,  it  is  to  be  found  wherever  vital  Chris- 
tianity exists  ;  for  the  same  reason  it  is  holy,  every  member  of 
it  being  a  living  temple  of  Jehovah;  it  is  also  one,  as  one 
Spirit  animates  all  the  saints  and  unites  them  to  God  and  to 
each  other;  and  it  '\s perpetual,  or  indestructible,  for  the  Most 
High  has  promised  never  to  leave  Himself  without  witnesses 
among  men,  and  all  His  redeemed  ones  shall  be  trophies  of 
His  grace  throughout  all  eternity.  But  these  attributes  were 
represented  as  belonging  to  the  Church  visible,  and  this  radi- 
cal mistake  became  the  parent  of  monstrous  delusions.  The 
ecclesiastical  writers  who  flourished  toward  the  end  of  the 
second  and  beginning  of  the  third  century  exhibit  a  consider- 
able amount  of  inconsistency  and  vacillation  when  they  touch 
upon  the  subject ; '  but,  half  a  century  afterward,  the  language 

'  He  would  be  a  bold  man  who  would  assert  that  all  the  pious  members  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  are  in  a  hopeless  condition. 
»  Heb.  xii.  23. 
'  See  Rothc's  "  Anfange  der  christlichen  Kirche,"  p.  575. 


ERRORS   OF   THE   CATHOLIC   THEORY.  585 

currently  employed  is  much  bolder  and  more  decided.  At 
that  time  Cyprian  does  not  hesitate  to  express  himself  in  the 
strongest  terms  of  high-church  exclusiveness.  "^//,"  says  he, 
"  are  adversaries  of  the  Lord  and  antichrist  who  are  found  to 
have  departed  from  the  charity  and  unity  of  the  Catholic 
Church."  '  "  You  ought  to  know  that  the  bishop  is  in  the 
Church  and  the  Church  in  the  bishop,  and  if  any  be  not  with 
the  bishop,  that  he  is  not  in  the  Church!'  "^  "  The  house  of  God 
is  one,  and  there  can  not  be  salvation  for  any  except  in  the 
Church." '  "  He  can  no  longer  have  God  for  a  Father,  who 
has  not  the  Church  for  a  mother."  * 

Though  the  Catholics  were  a  compact  body,  forming  the 
bulk  of  the  Christian  population,  their  system  failed  to  absorb 
all  the  professors  of  the  Gospel,  or  even  greatly  to  check  the 
tendency  toward  ecclesiastical  separation.  In  their  contro- 
versies with  seceders  and  schismatics,  their  own  principles 
were  more  distinctly  defined ;  and,  as  they  soon  found  that 
they  were  quite  an  overmatch  for  any  individual  sect,  their 
tone  gradually  became  more  decided  and  dictatorial.  But  the 
theological  position  from  which  they  started  was  a  sophism  ; 
and,  like  the  movements  of  a  traveller  who  has  mistaken  his 
way,  every  step  of  their  progress  was  an  advance  in  a  wrong 
direction.  Some  of  the  more  prominent  errors  to  which  their 
theory  led  may  here  be  enumerated. 

I.  The  theory  of  the  Catholic  Church  recognized  an  odious 
ecclesiastical  monopoly.  Pastors  and  teachers  are  "  for  the 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the 
edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ  "; "  and  yet  a  sinner  may  be 
saved  without  their  instrumentality.  The  truth  when  spoken 
by  a  layman,  or  when  read  in  a  private  chamber,  may  prove 
quite  as  efficacious  as  when  proclaimed  from  the  pulpit  of  a 
cathedral.  That  kingdom  of  God  which  "  cometh  not  with 
observation  "  is  built  up  by  "  the  Word  of   His  grace  ";  *  and 

"  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixxvi.,  p.  316.  "  Epist.  Ixix.,  p.  265. 

'  Epist.  Ixii.,  p.  221. 

*  "  De  Unit.  Ecc."  p.  397.  See  also  Lactantius,  "  De  Vera  Sapientia," 
lib.  iv.,  p.  282. 

'  Eph.  iv.  12.  »  Acts  XX.  32. 


586  ERRORS   OF   THE   CATHOLIC   THEORY, 

SO  long  as  the  Word  exists,  and  so  long  as  the  Spirit  applies 
it  to  enlighten  and  sanctify  and  comfort  God's  children,  the 
Church  is  imperishable.  The  evangelical  labors  of  the  pious 
master  of  a  merchant  vessel  have  often  been  blessed  abun- 
dantly ;  and  among  the  tens  of  thousands  afloat  on  the  broad 
waters,  who  seldom  enjoy  any  ecclesiastical  ministrations,  may 
be  found  some  of  the  highest  types  of  Christian  excellence. 
Though  regularly  ordained  pastors  are  necessary  to  the  growth 
and  well-being  of  the  Church,  such  facts  show  that  they  are 
not  essential  to  its  existence.  But,  according  to  the  Catholic 
system,  they  are  the  veins  and  arteries  through  which  its  very 
life-blood  circulates.  All  grace  belongs  to  the  visible  society 
called  the  Catholic  Church,  and  of  this  grace  the  Catholic 
ministers  have  the  exclusive  distribution.  Without  their  in- 
tervention, as  the  dispensers  of  divine  ordinances,  no  one  can 
hope  to  inherit  heaven.  No  other  ministers  whatever  can  be 
instrumental  in  conferring  any  saving  benefit.  Was  it  extra- 
ordinary that  individuals  supposed  to  be  intrusted  with  such 
tre'mendous  influence  soon  began  to  be  regarded  with  awful 
reverence  ?  If  the  services  they  rendered  were  necessary  to  sal- 
vation, and  if  these  services  could  be  performed  by  none  else, 
they  were  possessed  of  absolute  authority,  and  it  was  to  be 
expected  that  they  should  act  as  "  lords  over  God's  heritage." 
Under  the  Mosaic  economy  none  save  the  descendants  of  a 
singe  individual  were  permitted  to  present  the  sacrifices  or  to 
enter  the  holy  place.  In  the  celebration  of  the  most  solemn  rites 
of  their  religion  the  Jewish  people  were  kept  at  a  mysterious 
distance  from  the  presence  of  the  Divine  Majesty,  and  were 
taught  to  regard  the  of^ciating  ministers  as  mediators  between 
God  and  themselves.  This  arrangement  was  symbolical,  as 
all  the  priests  were  types  of  the  Great  Intercessor.  But  every 
believer  may  enjoy  the  nearest  access  to  his  Maker,  for  the 
Saviour  has  made  all  His  people  "kings  and  priests  unto 
God." '  The  ministers  of  the  Gospel  do  not  constitute  a 
privileged  fraternity  entitled  by  birth  to  exercise  certain  func- 
tions and  to  claim  certain  immunities.     They  shouJd  be  ap- 

'  Rev.  i.  6. 


ERRORS   OF  THE   CATHOLIC   THEORY.  587 

pointed  by  the  people  as  well  2a  for  them,  and  no  service 
which  they  perform  implies  that  they  have  nearer  access  to 
the  Divine  Presence  than  the  rest  of  the  worshippers.  In  the 
New  Testament  they  are  never  designated  priests^  neither  is 
their  intervention  between  God  and  the  sinner  described  as  in- 
dispensable. But  Catholicism  invested  them  with  a  factitious 
consequence,  representing  them  as  inheriting  peculiar  rights 
and  privileges  by  ecclesiastical  descent  from  the  apostles.  Ac- 
cording to  Cyprian,  "  Christ  says  to  the  apostles,  ajid  thereby 
to  all  prelates  who  by  vicarious  ordination  are  successors  of  the 
apostles,  '  He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  me.'  "  *  About  the 
commencement  of  the  third  century  the  pastors  of  the  Church 
began  to  be  called  priests,'  and  this  change  in  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal nomenclature  betokens  the  influence  of  Catholic  principles 
on  the  current  theology.  The  Jewish  sacrificial  system  had 
ceased,  and  the  Hebrew  Christians  were  disposed  to  transfer 
to  their  new  ministers  the  titles  of  the  sons  of  Levi  ;  but,  had 
not  the  alteration  been  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the 
times  it  could  not  have  been  accomplished.  It  was,  however, 
justified  by  Catholicism,  as  that  system  set  forth  the  clergy  in 
the  light  of  mediators  between  God  and  the  people.  This 
misconception  of  the  nature  of  the  Christian  ministry  gener- 
ated a  multitude  of  errors.  If  ministers  are  priests  they  offer 
sacrifice,  and  are  intrusted  with  the  work  of  atonement.  It  is 
true,  indeed,  that  the  monstrous  dogma  of  transubstantiation 
was  not  yet  broached,  but  forms  of  expression  exceedingly 
liable  to  misinterpretation,  began  to  be  adopted.     Thus,  the 

'  If  our  authorized  version  of  the  English  Bible  is  to  be  regarded  as  a 
standard  of  correct  usage,  the  word  priest  can  not  be  properly  employed  to 
designate  a  Christian  minister.  In  the  New  Testament,  as  stated  in  the 
text,  a  minister  of  the  Word  is  never  called  z.  priest  {lEpevc),  and  the  latter 
term  when  used  in  reference  to  an  official  personage  in  our  English  Bible, 
always  denotes  an  individual  w/to  offers  sacrifice.  To  call  a  Gospel  minis- 
ter a  priest  is,  therefore,  to  adopt  an  incorrect  expression  and  to  insinuate  a 
false  doctrine. 

*  Epist.  Ixix.,  p.  264. 

*  Thus,  Tertullian  speaks  of  the  "  ordo  sacerdotalis."  "  De  Exhor.  Cast." 
c.  vii. 


588  ERRORS   OF   THE   CATHOLIC   THEORY. 

Eucharist  was  styled  "  a  sacrifice,"  '  and  the  communion-table 
"  the  altar."  '  At  first  such  phraseology  was  not  intended  to 
be  hterally  understood/  but  its  tendency,  notwithstanding, 
was  most  pernicious,  as  it  fostered  false  views  of  a  holy  ordi- 
nance, and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  most  senseless  supersti- 
tion ever  imposed  on  human  credulity. 

Every  genuine  pastor  has  a  divine  call  to  the  sacred  office, 
and  no  act  of  man  can  supply  the  place  of  this  spiritual  voca- 
tion, God  alone  can  provide  a  true  minister,'  for  He  alone 
can  bestow  the  gifts  and  the  graces  required.  Ordination  is 
simply  the  form  in  which  the  existing  Church  rulers  endorse 
the  credentials  of  the  candidate,  and  sanction  his  appearance 
in  the  character  of  an  ecclesiastical  functionary.  But  these 
rulers  may  themselves  be  incompetent  or  profane,  and  if  so, 
their  approval  is  worthless  ;  or,  by  mistake,  they  may  permit 
wolves  in  sheep's  clothing  to  take  charge  of  the  flock  of 
Christ.  The  simple  fact,  therefore,  that  an  individual  holds  a 
certain  position  in  any  section  of  the  visible  Church,  is  not 
decisive  evidence  that  he  is  a  true  shepherd.  But  according 
to  the  doctrine  of  Catholicism,  whoever  was  accredited  by 
the  existing  ecclesiastical  authorities  was  the  chosen  of  the 
Lord.  When  certain  parties  who  had  joined  Novatian  were 
induced  to  retrace  their  steps,  they  made  the  following  peni- 
tential declaration  in  presence  of  a  large  congregation  as- 
sembled in  the  Western  metropolis:  "We  acknowledge  Cor- 
nelius bishop  of  the  most  holy  Catholic  Church  chosen  by  God 
Almighty  and  Christ  our  Lord."  *  Cyprian  asserted  that,  as 
he  was  bishop  of  Carthage,  he  must  necessarily  have  a  divine 
commission.  Nothing,  indeed,  can  exceed  the  arrogance 
with  which  this  imperious  prelate  expressed   himself  when 

'  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixiii.,  p.  230;  Ixiv.,  p.  239. 

"  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ixix.,  p.  264.  Cotelerius,  i.  442.  The  Eucharist  is  called 
a  sacrifice  by  Justin  Martyr  (see  his  Dialogue  with  Trypho,  "  Opera,"  p. 
260)  apparently  in  a  figurative  sense,  but  when  dispensed  by  a  minister 
called  a  priest,  such  language  became  exceedingly  liable  to  misconception. 

3  In  proof  of  this  see  Cyprian,  Epist.  Ivi.,  p.  200,  and  Ixiii.,  p.  231.  In  the 
former  place  Cyprian  says,  "  Mindful  of  the  Eucharist,  the  hand  which  has 
received  the  Lord's  body  may  embrace  the  Lord  himself  ." 

*  Heb.  V.  4 ;  Acts  xx.  28,  xxvi.  16.  '  Cyprian,  Epist.  xlvi.,  p.  136. 


ERRORS   OF   THE   CATHOLIC   THEORY.  589 

speaking  of  his  ecclesiastical  authority.  To  challenge  his 
conduct  was,  in  his  estimation,  tantamount  to  blasphemy  ; 
and,  to  dispute  his  prerogatives,  a  contempt  of  the  Divine 
Majesty.  Once,  in  a  time  of  persecution,  he  retired  from 
Carthage,  and  he  was,  in  consequence,  upbraided  by  some  as 
a  coward  ;  but  when  a  fellow-bishop,  Papianus,  ventured  to 
ask  an  explanation  of  a  course  of  proceeding  which  betokened 
indecision,  Cyprian  treated  the  inquiry  as  an  insult,  and 
poured  out  upon  his  correspondent  a  whole  torrent  of  invec- 
tives and  reproaches.  He  is  God's  bishop,  and  no  one  is  to 
attempt,  by  the  breath  of  suspicion,  to  stain  the  lustre  of  his 
episcopal  dignity.  "  I  perceive  by  your  letter,"  says  he, 
"  that  you  believe  the  same  things  of  me,  and  persist  in  what 

you  believed This  is  not  to  believe  in  God,  this  is  to 

be  a  rebel  against  Christ  and   against  His  Gospel Do 

you  suppose  that  the  priests  of  God  are  without  His  cogni- 
zance ordained  in  the  Church?  For  if  you  believe  that  those 
who  are  ordained  are  unworthy  and  incestuous,  what  else  is 
it  but  to  believe  that,  not  by  God,  or  through  God,  are  His 
bishops  appointed  in  the  Church." '  After  indulging  at  great 
length  in  the  language  of  denunciation,  he  adds,  in  a  strain 
of  irony,  "  Vouchsafe  at  length  and  deign  to  pronounce  on 
us,  and  to  confirm  our  episcopate  by  the  authority  of  your 
hearing,  that  God  and  Christ  may  give  you  thanks,  that 
through  you  a  president  and  ruler  has  been  restored  as  well 
to  their  altar  as  to  their  people."  ^ 

n.  The  Catholic  system  encouraged  its  adherents  to  culti- 
vate very  bigoted  and   ungenerous  sentiments.     They  were 

'  Epist.  Ixix.,  p.  262.  See  also  Epist.  Iv.,  p.  177.  "If  any  amount  of  dif- 
ference of  opinion  as  to  the  truth  or  untruth  of  the  teaching  of  a  geographi- 
cal priesthood  will  justify  separation  under  another  Christian  ministry, 
then  it  at  once  ceases  to  be  true  that  there  can  be  but  one  bishop,  or  one 
priest,  over  any  given  area  in  which  such  differences  exist ;  there  then  tnay 
obviously  be  as  many  bishops,  or  as  many  priests,  as  there  may  be  different 
bodies  of  men  differing  from  each  other's  teaching  in  what  they  deem  suffi- 
ciently essential  points  to  justify  separation." — Letter  from  the  Duke  of 
Argyll  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  p.  8. 

'^  Epist.  Ixix.,  p.  264. 


590  ERRORS   OF   THE   CATHOLIC   THEORY. 

taught  to  regard  themselves  as  the  "  peculiar  people,"  and  to 
look  on  all  others,  however  excellent,  as  without  claim  to  the 
title  or  privileges  of  Christians.  How  different  the  spirit  of 
the  inspired  heralds  of  the  Gospel !  When  Peter  saw  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  poured  out  on  men  uncircumcised,  he  recog- 
nized the  divine  intimation  by  acknowledging  the  believing 
Gentiles  as  his  brethren  in  Christ.  Conceiving  that  God  him- 
self had  thus  settled  the  question  of  their  Church  member- 
ship, "  he  commanded  them  to  be  baptized  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord."  '  But  men  who  professed  to  derive  their  authority 
from  the  apostle,  now  showed  how  grievously  they  misunder- 
stood the  benign  and  comprehensive  genius  of  his  ecclesiasti- 
cal polity.  The  dominant  party  among  the  disciples  had  not 
long  assumed  the  name  of  Catholics  when  they  sadly  belied 
the  designation  ;  for  nothing  could  be  more  illiberal  or  un- 
catholic  than  their  Church  principles.  All  evidences  of  piety, 
no  matter  how  decided,  if  found  among  the  Nazarenes,  or  the 
Novatians,  or  the  friends  of  Felicissimus,  were  rejected  by 
them  as  apocryphal.  The  brightest  manifestations  of  godli- 
ness, if  exhibited  outside  their  own  denomination,  only  roused 
their  jealousy  or  provoked  their  uncandid  and  malicious  criti- 
cisms. The  Catholic  bishops  acted  as  if  they  moved  within 
something  like  a  charmed  circle,  and  as  if  a  curse  rested  upon 
everything  not  under  their  own  influence.  Their  proceedings 
often  displayed  alike  their  folly  and  inconsistency.  Tertul- 
lian,  for  example,  was  a  Montanist,  and  yet  he  was  the  writer 
from  whom  Cyprian  himself  derived  a  large  share  of  his  theo- 
logical instruction.  "  Give  me  the  master^'  the  bishop  of 
Carthage  is  reported  to  have  said  when  he  called  for  his 
favorite  author."  Thus,  an  individual  who,  according  to 
Cyprian's  own  principles,  was  beyond  the  pale  of  hope,  was 
the  teacher  with  whom  he  was  daily  holding  spiritual  fellow- 
ship !  The  bigotry  of  the  party  appears  all  the  more  inex- 
cusable when  we  consider  that  some  of  those  who  differed 
from  them  taught  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  as 
zealously  and  as  fully  as  themselves.     The  Novatians  seceded 

'  Acts  X.  48.  ■''  Jerome,  "  Catalogue  of  Ecclesiastical  Writers." 


CATHOLICISM   OPPOSED   TO    GOD'S   WORD.  59I 

from  their  communion  merely  on  the  ground  of  a  question  of 
discipline,  and  yet  the  Catholics  could  not  believe  that  any 
grace  existed  among  these  ancient  Puritans.  The  Novatians 
might  exhibit  much  of  the  beauty  of  holiness,  and  shed  their 
blood  in  the  cause  of  Christianity,'  but  all  this  availed  them 
nothing  in  the  estimation  of  their  narrow-minded  antagonists. 
"  Let  no  one  think,"  says  Cyprian,  "  that  they  can  be  good 
men  who  leave  the  Church.""  "  He  can  never  attain  to  the 
kingdom  who  leaves  her  with  whom  the  kingdom  shall  be." ' 
"  He  can  not  be  a  martyr  who  is  not  in  the  Church."^  Every 
man  not  blinded  by  prejudice  might  well  have  suspected  the 
soundness  of  a  theory  sustained  by  such  brazen  recklessness 
of  assertion. 

HI.  Nothing,  however,  more  clearly  revealed  the  anti- 
evangelical  character  of  the  Catholic  system  than  its  inter- 
ference with  the  claims  of  the  Word  of  God.  The  Gospel 
commends  itself  by  the  light  of  its  own  evidence.  The 
official  rank  of  the  preacher  can  not  add  to  its  truth,  neither 
can  the  corrupt  motives  which  may  prompt  him  to  proclaim 
it,  impair  its  authority.  As  a  revelation  from  heaven,  it  pos- 
sesses a  title  to  consideration  irrespective  of  any  individual, 
or  any  Church ;  and  God  honors  His  own  communication 
even  when  delivered  by  a  very  unworthy  messenger.^  "  Some 
indeed,"  says  Paul,  "  preach  Christ  even  of  envy  and  strife, 
and  some  also  of  ^ood-will What  then  ?  Notwith- 
standing, every  way,  whether  in  pretence  or  in  truth,  Christ 
is  preached  ;  and  I  therein  do  rejoice,  yea,  and  will  rejoice."  " 
But  Catholicism  taught  its  partisans  to  cherish  very  different 
feelings,  for  they  were  instructed  to  believe  that  the  Gospel 
itself  was  without  efficacy  when  promulgated  by  a  minister 
who  did  not  belong  to  their  own  party.  They  could  not 
challenge  a  single  flaw  in  the  creed  of  Novatian,'  and  yet 
they  stoutly  maintained  that  his  preaching  was  useless,  and 

1  Some  of  those  called  heretics  had  many  martyrs.     Euseb.  v.  16. 
"  "  De  Unit.  Ecc."  Opera,  p.  399.  3  <«  £)e  Unit.  Ecc."  p.  401. 

*  "  De  Unit.  Ecc."  p.  401,  *  Jeremiah  xxiii.  21,  22. 

'  Phil.  i.  15,  18.     See  also  Mark  ix.  38,  39. 
'  Cyprian  himself  makes  this  admission.     Epist.  Ixxvi.,  p.  319. 


592  CATHOLICISM   OPPOSED   TO    GOD'S   WORD. 

that  the  baptism  he  dispensed  was  worthless  as  the  ablutior 
of  a  heathen,  "  You  should  know,"  says  Cyprian,  *'  that  we 
ought  not  even  to  be  ctirious  as  to  what  Novatian  teaches,  since 
he  teaches  out  of  the  Church.  Whosoever  he  be,  and  whatso- 
ever he  be,  he  is  not  a  Christian  who  is  not  in  the  Church  of 
Christ."  '  "  When  the  Novatians  say,  '  Dost  thou  believe  re- 
mission of  sins  and  eternal  life  by  the  Holy  Church?'  they 
lie  in  their  interrogatory,  since  they  have  710  Churchy  " 

Strange  infatuation !  Who  could  have  anticipated  that  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  death  of  the  Apostle  John, 
such  miserable  and  revolting  bigotry  would  be  current  ?  The 
Scriptures  teach  us  that,  in  the  salvation  of  sinners,  ministers 
are  nothing,  and  the  Gospel  everything.  "  Whosoever,"  says 
Paul,  "  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved. 
....  Faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  Word  of 
God.''  ^  Cyprian  did  not  understand  such  doctrine.  He  imag- 
ined that  the  Word  of  God  had  no  power  except  when  issuing 
from  the  lips  of  the  ministers  of  his  own  communion.  The 
Catholic  Church  must  put  its  seal  upon  the  Gospel  to  give  it 
currency.  Without  this  stamp  it  was  all  in  vain  to  announce 
it  to  a  world  lying  in  wickedness.  The  Catholic  pastor  might 
be  a  man  without  ability  ;  he  might  be  comparatively  ignorant 
and  of  more  than  suspicious  integrity ;  and  yet  the  King  of 
the  Church  was  supposed  to  look  down  with  complacency  on 
all  the  ofificial  acts  of  this  wretched  hireling,  while  no  dew  ot 
heavenly  influence  rested  on  the  labors  of  a  pious  and  accom- 
plished Novatian  minister !  When  men  like  Cyprian  were 
prepared  to  acknowledge  such  folly,  it  was  not  strange  that  a 
darkness  which  might  be  felt  soon  settled  down  upon  Chris- 
tendom. 


In  the  preceding  pages  the  history  of  the  ancient  Church 
for  the  first  three  centuries  has  passed  under  review,  and  a 
few  general  observations  may  be  not  inappropriately  appended 
to  this  concluding  chapter.     The  details  here  furnished  supply 

'  Epist.  lii.,  p.  156.  '  Epist.  Ixxvi.,  p.  319.  *  Rom.  x.  13,  17. 


CONCLUDING   OBSERVATIONS.  593 

ample  evidence  that  Christianity  was  greatly  corrupted  long 
before  the  conversion  of  Constantine.  Much  of  the  supersti- 
tiort  which  has  since  so  much  disfigured  the  Church  was,  in- 
deed, yet  unknown.  During  the  first  three  centuries  we  find 
no  recognition  of  the  mediatorship  of  Mary,  or  of  the  dogma 
of  her  immaculate  conception,'  or  of  the  worship  of  images, 
or  of  the  celebration  of  divine  service  in  an  unknown  tongue, 
or  of  the  infallibihty  of  the  Roman  bishop.  But  the  germs  of 
many  dangerous  errors  were  distinctly  visible,  and  when  the 
sun  of  Imperial  favor  began  to  shine  upon  the  Christians, 
these  errors  rapidly  reached  maturity.  The  Eucharistic  bread 
and  wine  were  viewed  with  superstitious  awe,  and  language 
was  applied  to  them  calculated  to  bewilder  and  confound.  A 
system  of  penitential  discipline  alien  to  the  spirit  of  the  New 
Testament  was  already  in  existence  ;  rites  and  ceremonies  un- 
known i;i  the  apostolic  age  made  their  appearance ;  and  in  t|;ie 
great  towns  a  crowd  of  functionaries,  whom  Paul  and  Peter 
would  have  refused  to  own,  added  to  the  pomp  of  public  wor- 
ship. Some  imagine  that  in  the  times  of  TertuUian  and  of 
Cyprian  we  may  find  the  purest  faith  in  the  purest  form,  but 
a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  the  period  is 
quite  sufficient  to  dispel  the  delusion.  A  little  consideration 
may  convince  us  that,  in  the  second  or  third  century,  we  can 
scarcely  expect  to  see  either  the  most  brilliant  displays  of  the 
light  of  truth  or  the  most  attractive  exhibitions  of  personal 
holiness.  The  waters  of  life  gushed  forth,  clear  as  crystal, 
from  the  Rock  of  Ages  ;  but,  as  their  course  was  through  the 
waste  wilderness  of  a  degenerate  world,  they  were  soon  defiled 
by  its  pollutions  ;  and  it  was  not  till  the  desert  began  "  to 
rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose,"  that  the  stream  flowed 
smoothly  in  the  channel  it  had  wrought,  and  partially  recov- 
ered its  native  purity.  At  the  present  day  we  do  not  expect 
as  high  a  style  of  Christianity  in  a  convert  from  idolatry  as  in 
an  individual  trained  from  infancy  under  the  care  of  enlight- 

'  TertuUian  did  not  hold  the  doctrine  of  her  perpetual  virginity.     See 
"  De  Monog.,"  c.  8,  and  "  De  Carne  Christi,"  c.  23.     Neither  did  he  believe 
in  her  immaculate  conception.     See  Kaye's  "  TertuUian,"  p.  338,  and  Jer- 
ome's "  Tract  against  Helvidius."     Du  Pin,  i.  346. 
38 


594  CONCLUDING   OBSERVATIONS. 

enecl  and  godly  parents.  By  judicious  culture  the  graces  of 
the  Spirit,  as  well  as  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  may  be  improved  ; 
but  when  a  section  of  the  open  field  of  immorality  and  igno- 
rance is  first  added  to  the  garden  of  the  Lord,  it  may  not 
forthwith  possess  all  the  fertility  and  loveliness  of  the  more 
ancient  plantation.'  A  large  portion  of  the  early  disciples  had 
once  been  heathens  ;  they  had  to  struggle  against  evil  habits 
and  inveterate  prejudices  ;  they  were  surrounded  by  corrupt- 
ing influences  ;  and,  as  they  had  not  the  same  means  of  ob- 
taining an  exact  and  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  Gospel 
as  ourselves,  we  can  not  reasonably  hope  to  find  among  them 
any  very  extraordinary  measure  either  of  spiritual  wisdom  or 
of  consistent  piety. 

When  the  Church  toward  the  middle  of  the  second  century 
was  sorely  harassed  by  divisions,  its  situation  was  extremely 
critical  and  embarrassing.  Christianity  had  appeared  among 
men  bearing  the  olive  branch  of  peace,  and  had  proposed  to 
supersede  the  countless  superstitions  of  the  heathen  by  a  faith 
binding  the  human  race  together  in  one  great  and  harmonious 
family.  How  mortified,  then,  must  have  been  its  friends 
when  Basilides,  Marcion,  Valentine,  Cerdo,  Mark,  and  many 
others  began  to  propagate  their  heresies  ;  and  when  it  was  to 
be  feared  that  the  divisions  of  the  Church  would  prove  as 
numerous  as  the  religions  of  paganism  !  Had  the  ministers 
of  the  Gospel  girded  themselves  for  the  emergency ;  had  they 
boldly  encountered  the  errorists,  and  vanquished  them  with 
weapons  drawn  from  the  armory  of  the  Word  ;  they  would 
have  approved  themselves  worthy  of  their  position,  and  ac- 
quired strength  for  future  conflicts.  But  whilst  they  did  not 
altogether  neglect  an  appeal  to  Scripture,  they  were  tempted 
in  an  evil  hour  to  think  of  sequestrating  their  own  freedom, 
in  the  hope  of  overwhelming  heresy  with  the  vigor  of  an  ec- 
clesiastical despotism.  By  investing  their  chairman  with  arbi- 
trary power  and  by  making  communion  with  this  functionary 
the   criterion  of  discipleship,  they  sanctioned  a  perilous  ar- 

'  One  of  the  most  distinguished  and  sagacious  of  modern  missionaries 
has  called  attention  to  this  fact.  See  Livingstone's  "  Missionary  Travels  in 
South  Africa,"  p.  107. 


CONCLUDING   OBSERVATIONS.  595 

rangement  and  indorsed  a  vicious  principle.  From  this  date 
we  trace  the  commencement  of  a  career  of  defection.  The 
bishop  and  the  Church  began  to  supplant  Christ  and  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  Gospel.  Bigotry  advanced  apace,  and  conscience 
found  itself  in  bondage. 

The  establishment  of  the  hierarchical  system,  though  im 
parting,  as  was  thought,  greater  unity  to  the  structure  of  the 
Church,  did  not  really  invigorate  its  constitution.  The  spirit- 
ual commonwealth  is  very  different  from  any  merely  earthly 
organization,  for  it  has  no  statute-book  but  the  Bible,  and  it 
owes  explicit  obedience  to  no  ruler  but  the  King  of  Zion. 
Freedom  of  conscience,  in  obedience  to  the  Word,  is  the  heri- 
tage of  all  its  members  ;  and  every  one  of  them  is  bound  to 
exercise  the  privilege,  and  to  resist  its  violation.  Its  unity 
consists,  not  in  adhesion  to  any  visible  head,  but  in  cordial 
submission  to  its  one  great  Lord  and  Sovereign.  When  a 
change  was  made  in  its  primitive  framework,  its  essential  unity 
was  impaired.  After  the  elders  had  handed  over  a  considera- 
ble share  of  their  authority  to  their  president,  they  were  not 
expected  to  take  such  a  deep  interest  in  its  government  as 
when  they  were  themselves  individually  responsible  for  its 
official  administration.  They  still,  indeed,  acted  as  his  coun- 
sellors, but  as  they  no  longer  held  the  independent  footing 
they  had  once  occupied,  they  could  neither  speak  nor  act  so 
freely  and  so  energetically  as  before.  Thus,  when  one  mem- 
ber of  the  ecclesiastical  body  was  permitted  to  attain  an  un- 
natural magnitude,  others  ceased  to  perform  their  proper 
functions,  and  the  whole  eventually  became  diseased  and 
misshapen.  And  the  new  arrangement  entirely  failed  in 
checking  the  growth  of  the  errorists.  After  its  adoption  her- 
esies sprung  up  as  rapidly  as  ever,  and  the  multitude  of  its 
sects  continued  to  be  the  scandal  of  Christianity  even  in  the 
time  of  Constantine."  Their  suppression  is  to  be  attributed, 
not  to  the  potency  of  Prelacy,  but  to  the  stern  intolerance  of 

I  Maximian,  in  his  famous  edict  of  toleration,  lays  great  stress  on  this 
circumstance,  "  De  Mortibus  Persecutorum,"  c.  34.  See  also  Euseb. 
viii.  17. 


596  CONCLUDING   OBSERVATIONS. 

the  Imperial  laws.  By  the  rigid  enforcement  of  conformity 
the  Catholic  Church  at  length  reigned  without  a  rival. 

The  extant  ecclesiastical  writings  of  the  third  century  de- 
monstrate that  the  doctrine  of  the  visible  unity  of  the  Church, 
as  represented  by  the  Catholic  hierarchy,  already  formed  a 
prominent  part  of  the  current  creed.  As  there  is  "  one  God, 
one  Christ,  and  one  Holy  Ghost,"  it  was  affirmed  that  there 
could  be  but  "one  bishop  in  the  Catholic  Church."'  This 
theory  was  inconsistent  with  the  fact  that  there  were  many 
bishops  in  almost  every  province  of  the  Empire  ;  but  the  in- 
genuity of  churchmen  attempted  a  solution  of  the  difficulty. 
It  was  asserted  that  the  whole  episcopacy  should  be  regarded 
as  one,  and  that  each  bishop  constituted  an  integral  part  of 
the  grand  unit.  "  The  episcopacy  is  one,"  says  Cyprian,  "  it 
is  a  whole  in  which  each  enjoys  full  possession."  '  "  There  is 
one  Church  from  Christ  throughout  the  whole  world  divided 
into  many  members,  and  one  episcopate  difi'used  throughout  an 
harmonious  multitude  of  many  bishops."  " 

We  have  seen  that  the  Roman  prelate  was  already  recog- 
nized as  the  centre  of  ecclesiastical  unity.  A  misunderstood 
passage  in  the  Gospel  of  Matthew*  was  supposed  to  sanction 
this  ecclesiastical  primacy.  "  There  is,"  said  the  bishop  of 
Carthage,  "one  God,  and  one  Christ,  and  one  Church,  and  one 
diair  fotmded  by  the  Word  of  the  Lord  on  the  Rock."  "  Though 
the  Roman  chief  pastor  was  theoretically  only  the  first  among 
the  Catholic  bishops,  his  zeal  for  uniformity  had  now  more 
than  once  interrupted  the  peace  of  the  Christian  community. 
The  erection  of  a  new  capital  and  the  subsequent  dismember- 
ment of  the  Empire  considerably  affected  his  position  ;  but, 
within  a  certain  sphere,  he  steadily  endeavored  to  carry  out 
the  idea  of  Catholic  unity.  The  doctrine  reached  its  highest 
point  of  development  after  the  lapse  of  upwards  of  a  thousand 
years.  Then  the  bishop  of  Rome  had  become  a  sovereign 
prince,  and  was  the  acknowledged  ruler  of  a  vast  and  magnifi- 

'  Cornelius  to  Cyprian,  Epist.  xlvi.,  p.  136. 

*  "  De  Unit.  Eccles.,"  p.  397.  *  Epist.  Hi.,  p.  156. 

'  Matt.  xvi.  18.  'Cyprian,  Epist.  xl.,  pp.  120,  121. 


CONCLUDING   OBSERVATIONS.  597 

cent  hierarchy.  Then,  he  swayed  his  spiritual  sceptre  over 
all  the  tribes  of  Western  Christendom.  Then,  verily,  uni- 
formity had  its  day  of  triumph  ;  for,  with  some  rare  excep- 
tions, wherever  the  stranger  travelled  throughout  Europe,  he 
found  the  same  order  of  divine  service,  and  saw  the  ministers 
of  the  sanctuary  arrayed  in  the  same  costume,  and  practicing 
even  the  same  gestures.  Then,  wherever  he  entered  a  sacred 
edifice,  he  heard  the  same  language,  and  listened  to  the  same 
prayers  expressed  in  the  very  same  phraseology.  But  what 
was  meanwhile  the  real  condition  of  the  Church  ?  Was  there 
love  without  dissimulation,  and  the  keeping  of  the  unity  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.?  Nothing  of  the  kind.  Never 
could  it  be  said  with  greater  truth  of  the  people  of  the  West 
that  they  were  "  foolish,  disobedient,  deceived,  serving  divers 
lusts  and  pleasures,  living  in  malice  and  envy,  hateful  and 
hating  one  another."  There  were  wars  and  rumors  of  wars ; 
nation  rose  up  against  nation  and  kingdom  against  kingdom  ; 
and  the  Pope  was  generally  the  cause  of  the  contention.  The 
very  man  who  claimed  to  be  the  centre  of  Catholic  unity  was 
the  grand  fomenter  of  ecclesiastical  and  political  disturbance. 
The  Sovereign  Pontiff,  and  the  Catholic  princes  with  whom 
he  was  engaged  in  deadly  feuds,  were  equally  faithless,  rest- 
less, and  implacable.  Freadom  of  thought  was  proscribed, 
and  the  human  mind  was  placed  under  the  most  exacting  and 
intolerable  tyranny  by  which  it  was  ever  oppressed. 

The  mutilation  of  this  Dagon  of  hierarchical  unity  is  one 
of  the  many  glorious  results  of  the  great  Reformation.  The 
sooner  the  remaining  fragments  of  this  idol  are  crushed  to 
atoms,  the  better  for  the  peace  and  freedom  of  Christendom. 
The  unity  of  the  Church  can  not  be  achieved  by  the  iron  rod 
of  despotism,  neither  can  the  communion  of  saints  be  promo- 
ted by  the  sacrifice  of  their  rights  and  privileges.  "  Where 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty."  '  Christ  alone  can 
draw  all  men  unto  Him.  The  real  unity  of  His  Church  is, 
not  any  merely  ecclesiastical  cohesion,  but  a  unity  of  faith,  of 
hope,  and  of  affection.     It  is  the  fellowship  of  Christian  free- 

'  2  Cor.  iii.  17. 


598  CONCLUDING   OBSERVATIONS. 

men  walking  together  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the  com- 
fort of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  the  attraction  of  all  hearts  to 
one  heavenly  Saviour,  and  the  submission  of  all  wills  to  one 
holy  law.  Looking  at  the  past  condition  or  the  present  as- 
pect of  society,  we  may  think  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
such  unity  ailtogether  insurmountable;  but  it  shall,  in  due 
time,  be  brought  about  by  Him  "who  doeth  great  things  and 
unsearchable,  marvellous  things  without  number."  Its  reali- 
zation will  present  the  most  delightful  and  impressive  specta- 
cle that  the  earth  has  ever  seen.  "  Every  valley  shall  be  ex- 
alted, and  every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be  made  low  ;  and 
the  crooked  shall  be  made  straight,  and  the  rough  places 
plain  ;  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  revealed,  and  all  flesh 
shall  see  it  together.''  '  "  Thy  watchmen  shall  lift  up  the 
voice,  with  the  voice  together  shall  they  sing ;  for  they  shall 
see  eye  to  eye,  when  the  Lord  shall  bring  again  Zion."  ^  "  And 
the  Lord  shall  be  King  over  all  the  earth ;  in  that  day  shall 
there  be  one  Lord,  and  His  name  one.'' '     Amen. 

'  Isa.  xl.  4,  5.  "  Isa.  Hi.  8.  »  Zech.  xiv.  9. 


THE  END. 


INDEX. 


Abgarus,  254,  363. 

Abraham,  351. 

Abulides,  534. 

Academics,  5,  178. 

Achaia,  100,  116,  343. 

Acropolis  of  Athens,  108, 

Acolyths,  539. 

Acts  of  the  Apostles,  136,  159,  408. 

Acts  of  Ignatius,  380,  382 ;  of  St. 
Thomas,  374 ;  of  St.  Andrew, 
374  ;  of  Paul  and  Thecla,  388. 

Adamnan,  137. 

Adonai,  351. 

Adultery,  575. 

Advantages  of  Synods,  566. 

yEgean  Sea,  151,  374,  559. 

^lia  Capitolina,  334,  568. 

^ons,  394,  395,  468. 

Affusion,  197. 

Africa,  254,  271,  284,  436;  the 
senior  bishop  there,  562. 

Agaps,  441. 

Aged  bishops,  463, 

Agrippa,  123,   124. 

Agrippinus,  560. 

Alexander  of  Princeton,  in,  120, 
230. 

Alexander  of  Jerusalem,  274;  of 
Rome,  464,  489. 

Alexander  Severus,  255,  272,  422. 

Alexandria,  102,  130,  153;  plague  in, 
297 ;  elections  in,  303  ;  church  of, 
474,  485  ;  presbyters  of,  485,  530, 
532 ;  bishops  of,  530,  549. 

Allord,  32,  67,  93,  98,  207,  224. 

Altar,  446,  472. 

Ambrosius,  345, 

Amen,  424. 

America,  287,  319. 

Ammonius  Saccas,  343. 

Amphictyonic  Council,  561. 

Anachronisms,  382. 


Anacletus,  464. 

Anahuac,  287. 

Ananias,  54. 

Ancient  Church  Presbyterian,  459. 

Ancyra,  Council  of,  544. 

Andrew,  33,  34,  41. 

Angels  of  the  Churches,  237,  241. 

Anicetus,  304,  488,  499,  508. 

Anointing,  438. 

Antioch  of  Pisidia,  67,  138. 

Antioch  of  Syria,   56,  68,  104,  343, 

368 ;    synods    of,   406,    563,    564 ; 

church  of,  474;  bishops   of,  356, 

549- 
Antonia,  Tower  of,  119,  125. 
Antoninus    Pius,   265,  343;  heresies 

in  reign  of,  483,  494. 
Antony,  286. 
Apelles,  455. 
Apocalypse,  151,  161,  163,  237,  398, 

408. 
Apocrypha,  8. 
Apollos,  102,  103,  215. 
Apollonius  of  Tyana,  93,  108. 
Apologies,  250,  333,  339. 
Apostasy,  575. 
Apostles,  36,  39,  50,  74;  to  remain 

twelve    years    at    Jerusalem,    59 ; 

gradually   enlightened,   169;    their 

position,  212  ;  mode  of  acting,  214, 

220;  others    sometimes  so  called, 

455- 
Apostolic  Churches,  514. 
Apostolic    constitutions,     r88,    427, 

513;  canons,  534,  548,  562. 
Apostolic  succession,  42,  43,  536. 
Apostolic  fathers,  332,  335. 
Appeals  in  Jewish  courts,  226,  229. 
Appeal  to  the  Emperor,  87,  123. 
Appearance,  Personal,  of  Jesus,  17. 
Appii  Forum,  131. 
Apt  to  teach,  209,  210. 

(599) 


6oo 


INDEX. 


Aquila,    97,    104,    116;    version    of, 

345- 
Arabia,  55,  153,  254,  342,  343. 
Archdeacon,  499,  528,  531. 
Archelaus,  13,  29. 
Archippus,  133. 
Areopagus,  95. 
Aretas,  55. 
Argyll,  515,  589. 
Annghi,  288,  322. 
Aristarchus,  in,  118. 
Aristicles,  264,  367. 
Aristo,  455. 
Arius,  42,  345. 
Aries,  254. 
Arnobius,  349. 
Arrius  Antoninus,  269. 
Artemon,  413. 
Ascension  of  Jesus,  26. 
Ascetics,  285. 
Asceticism,  403. 
Asia,  104,  148,  232,  269. 
Asiarchs,  1 11. 
Asia  Minor,  iii,   118,  245,  309,  327, 

342. 
Assassins,  120.    " 
Athanasius,  286,  297,  415,  565. 
Athenagoras,  334,  367,  398,  414. 
Atiienians,  90,  93. 
Athens,  90,  264. 
Athos,  Mount,  313. 
Atonement,   23,  174,  417;  Gnostics 

rejected  it,  403. 
Attica,  90,  95. 
Attributes  of  Christ,  172. 
Augustine,  38,  185  ;  on  Matt.  xvi.  18, 

330  ;  praise  of  celibacy,  404. 
Augustus,  I,  30,  318. 
Aurelian,  275,  280,  327. 
Aurclius,  541. 
Auricular  Confession,  452. 
Autolycus,  253,  291. 

Babel,  522  ;  the  Roman,  523. 

Babylas,  274. 

Bacchus,  397. 

Badias,  526. 

Baluzius,  347. 

Baptism  of  infants,  194,  431,  432; 
errors  regarding,  419;  mode  of, 
436;  by  the  bishop,  513;  of  Jesus, 
15- 

Baptismal  controversy,  577. 

Baptist.  John  the,  15,  35. 

Baptislerium,  197. 


Barbarous  nations,  3. 

Barcochebas,  568. 

Barnabas,  55,  58,  62;  the  apostolic 
father,  334,  367. 

Baronius,  151,  368,  498,  503. 

Barrow,  330. 

Bartholomew,  32. 

Basil,  327. 

Basilides,  340,  394. 

Baths  of  the  ancients,  197. 

Baumgarten,  37,  67,  159. 

Baur,  354. 

Baxter,  331. 

Bengel,  157,  224. 

Bentley,  377. 

Berea,  89. 

Bernice,  123,  124. 

Bethlehem,  12,  28,  29. 

Beveridge  (Bishop),  498,  546. 

Bible,  420. 

Bibliotheca  Sacra,  238. 

Bingham,  303,  327,  423,  426,  433, 
436. 

Binius,  312,  470,  498,  503. 

Birth  of  Christ,  28. 

Bishop,  the  word  in  the  Ignatian 
epistles,  383,  384;  its  new  mean- 
ing, 500-501. 

Bishop  of  bishops,  518. 

Bishops,  or  elders,  208  ;  succession 
of,  301  ;  great  number  of,  succeed 
each  other  in  a  short  period,  464, 
465  ;  called  overseers,  479  ;  chosen 
by  the  people,  485  ;  presidents, 
502;  had  wives,  524;  preached, 
525  ;  dispensed  the  Eucharist,  526  ; 
trading,  528  ;  at  Alexandria,  529  ; 
made  by  presbyters,  531  ;  called 
presbyters,  532  ;  ordained  by  bish- 
ops and  presbyters,  534;  income 
of'  535'  53^ ;  manage  church 
funds,  538  ;  in  council  ot  Carthage, 
545;  disputes  of,  549;  sit  with 
elders,  565  ;  all  equal,  577. 

Bithynia,  148,  253,  262. 

Blandina,  268. 

Blondel,  303,  324,  496. 

Blood,  Abstinence  from,  TJ. 

Blunt,  375,  388,  410. 

Boanerges,  33,  152. 

Body  ot  Christ,  i8r. 

Bona,  Cardinal,  378,  498. 

Books,  Sacred,  of  the  Jews,  7. 

Boston,  449. 

Bower,  314,  328,  489,  515. 


INDEX. 


6oi 


Bread  in  Eucharist,  442. 

Brethren  and  disciples,  74. 

Breviary,  313.  316,  457,  503- 

Britain,  153. 

British  Museum,  377. 

Brown's  "  Hor^e  Subsecivas,"  91. 

Bruno,  Thomas,  461. 

Bucolus,  455. 

Buddhists,  286,  404. 

Bunsen,  2S7.  301,  310,  314,  317,  360, 

369.  377.  50'- 
Burrus,  131. 
Burton,  67,  73,  214,  506,  544. 

Cabalists,  345,  396. 

Caesarea,  51,  121,  214,  343;  church 

of,  473,  475  ;  bishop  of,  558. 
Caesar's  household,  142,  150. 
Caius,  140,  335. 
Callistus,  315-317  ;  cemetery  of,  320, 

323,  350- 
Calvin,  331,  389. 
Cambridge,  377, 
Camerius,  464. 
Candlesticks,  Golden,  238. 
Canon  of  Scripture,  163-164,  408. 
Canterbury,  Archbishop  of,  359,  466. 
Capernaum,  17. 
Cappadocia,  148,  348. 
Caracalla,  272. 
Carpi,  526. 

Carpocrates,  183,  395. 
Carpophorus,  315. 
Carpus,   137. 
Carriages,  117. 
Carson,  196. 
Carthage,  254,  305,  321,336;  church 

of,  346,  473 ;  synods  at,  560. 
Catacombs,  313,  318-321,  441. 
Catechumens,  271,  438. 
Catholic,  use  of  the  word,  306,  384, 

472  ;  its  first  occurrence,  519. 
Catholic  Church,  311,  580,  582. 
Catholic  system,  its  theory,  521  ;  its 

rise,    301,    511-514;    its   illiberal- 

ity,  515,   579;  its  errors,  585-591. 
Catholic  epistles,  161. 
Cave,  32,  136,  153,  336,  355. 
Celerinus,  541. 
Celibacy,  285,  382,  404. 
Celsus,  344,  482. 
Celtic  language,  335. 
Cemeteries,  275. 
Cenchrea,  102,  116,  526. 
Cerdo,  301,  491. 


Ceremonies,  568,  578. 

Cerinthus,  183,  480. 

Chapters  and  verses,  163. 

Chastity,  382. 

Chevallier,  425. 

Chief  priests,  226. 

Childhood  of  Jesus,  13. 

Chorepiscopi,  544. 

Chrestiani,  145. 

Christ  worshipped,  411. 

Christians,  why  so  called,  57  ;  their 

piety  not  transcendental,  283. 
Christmas,  570. 
Chronicon  of  Eusebius,  151,272,465, 

473- 
Chronology  of  Eusebius,  489. 
Chrysostom,  207,  330. 
Church,  its  meaning,  224,  234 ;  angel 

of  the,  239 ;  of  Rome,   299,  306  ; 

built  on  Peter,  326. 
Church  courts  met  privately,  230. 
Church  of  Jerusalem,  40,  72  ;  its  ex- 
tent, 224. 
Cilicia,  51. 

Circumcision,  70,  78. 
City  bishops,  546,  549,  567. 
City  presbyters,  545. 
Clarkson,  240,  425. 
Claudia,  153. 

Claudius,  the  Emperor,  145. 
Claudius  Lysias,  120. 
Clemens  Alexandrinus,  3^9,  351,  416, 

418. 
Clemens   Romanus,    136,    140,    321, 

456,  481  ;  death  of,  488. 
Clementine  Homilies,  231,  374. 
Clergy,  when  so  called,  527. 
Clermont,  254. 
Clinic  baptism,  437. 
Cloak  or  case,  137. 
Codex,      Alexandrinus,      Augiensis, 

Bezs,   Ephraemi,    Sinaiticus,    Va- 

ticanus,  75,  224,  457. 
Collection  for  poor  saints,  1 18. 
Collier,  205,  228. 
Colosse,  107,  138,  244. 
Colossians,  134. 
Columba,  137. 
Commodian,  347. 
Commodus,  268,  308,  316. 
Communion  of  saints,  234. 
Community  of  goods,  46,  47,  58. 
Concubine,  269. 
Confederation  of  churches,  225,  231 

232. 


6o2 


INDEX. 


Confession,  447. 

Confessors,  574  ;  some  drunken,  574. 

Confirmation,  194. 

Consociation  of  churches,  233. 

Constantine,  279,  295,  475, 

Constantius  Chiorus,  278. 

Constitution  of  the  Church,  454  ;  its 

importance,  550. 
Constitutions,  The  Apostolic,  427. 
Conversions  interdicted,  270. 
Conybeare  and  Howson,  53,  60,  107, 

III,  119,  132,  133. 
Cooper,  302,  324,  346,  571. 
Corinth,  95,  116;  church  of,  154,  305; 

456. 
Corinthians,  109,  114,  477. 
Corn  ships,  127,  130. 
Cornelius  the  centurion,  51,  60,  214; 

of  Rome,   324,   532  ;  his  mildness 

to  the  lapsed,  576. 
Corruption  of  man,  171. 
Costume,  clerical,  428. 
Cotelerius,  303,  332,  369,  371,  382, 

431- 
Council  of  Jerusalem,  72-79,  228. 
Councils,  469. 
Counsels,  403. 
Country    bishops,    544-546 ;    elders, 

545- 

Courtezans,  4. 

Creation  out  of  nothing,  180. 

Creed,  176,  406,  582. 

Crescens,  266. 

Crete,  106,  161,  215. 

Crispus,  97,  201. 

Cross,  286,  287,  288,  438. 

Crucifixion,  23,49,  158. 

Cudworlh,  9,  93,  94,  402. 

Culdees,  510. 

Cureton,  359,  360,  361,  373,  374,  386, 
388. 

Cursive  MS.,  the  most  ancient,  75. 

Cybele,  397. 

Cyclades,  371. 

Cyprian,  his  life  and  character,  346- 
348;  on  tradition,  410;  on  bap- 
tism, 437;  on  the  Rock,  326,  521, 
596;  opposes  Stephen,  521;  his 
presbyters,  526,  542 ;  chosen  by 
the  people,  541  ;  rejects  the  tickets 
of  peace,  574  ;  his  bigotry,  584 ; 
his  arrogance,  588 ;  his  admira- 
tion of  Tertullian,  590. 

Cyprus,  47,  66,  153. 


DAEMONS,  81. 

Daille,  354,  361,  380,  385. 

Damaris,  95. 

Damascus,  53,  55. 

Damasus,  320,  476,  502. 

Daniel's  prophecy,  149. 

Dativus,  526. 

Davidson,  137,  139,  161. 

Day  in  prophecy,  49. 

Deaconesses,  220. 

Deacons,  48,  207,  458,  493. 

Decius,  273,  274,  275,  322,  346. 

Delarue,  344,  542. 

Delivering  to  Satan,  200,  201. 

Demetrianus,  288. 

Demetrius,  the  craftsman,    1 10  ;  Bi 

shop  of  Alexandria,  342,  474,  525, 

529. 
Demiurge,  394,  395,  397. 
Demosthenes,  90. 
Deputation  to  Jerusalem,  71. 
Diana,  107,  iii,  112. 
Dictator,  490, 
Didascalia,  188,  407. 
Dion  Cassius,  151. 
Diocletian,  256,  275-278,  426. 
Diognetus.  165,  334,  417. 
Dionysius,    95  ;  of  Alexandria,    274, 

485,  528,  564  ;  of  Rome,  327. 
Diotrephes,  583. 
Discipline,    199,    568;    not  uniform, 

578. 
Dispersion  of  the  Jews,  8. 
Dissenters,  The  first,  569. 
Docets,  i8[. 
Doctores,  546. 
Doctrine  of  Jesus,   18 ;  of  apostolic 

church,  168  ;  of  early  church,  405. 
Doctrine  of  Peter,  363. 
Domitian,    149,    153,   162,  246,  280, 

481. 
Double  honor,  209. 
Dove,  318. 

Dress  of  ministers,  194. 
Druids,  204. 
Drusilla,  122. 
Dunbar,  371. 
Dupin,  8,  290. 
Duumviri,  83,  87. 

Earthquake,  84,  86. 
East,  Turning  to  the,  425. 
Easter,  570,  573. 
Ebion,  183,  41 1,  480. 


INDEX. 


603 


Ebionites,  411-412. 

Ecclesiastes,  Paraphrase  on,  349. 

Ecclesiastici,  519. 

Ecclesiastics  secularized,  527. 

Edessa,  254. 

Egypt,  Flight  into,  13,  29;  its  pro- 
ducts, 130;  spread  of  gospel  in, 
254  ;  Gnostics  of,  394  ;  ordination 
in,  531- 

Elagabalus,  272. 

Elders,  58,  72,  198,  208,  209,  227, 
234,  457,  470;  ordained  deacons, 
552;  made  the  bishops,  531; 
ruling,  disappeared,  535. 

Election,  Popular,  48,  67,  219,  473, 
540. 

Eleutherius,  308,  488  ;  confounded 
with   Hyginus,  498 ;   a  presbyter, 

499- 

Ellicott,  105,  114,  208. 

Elrington,  389. 

Elvira,  or  Eliberis,  290,  565. 

Empire,  Roman,  its  boundaries,  I  ; 
fall  of  western,  151  ;  population  of, 
I  ;  resources  of,  2  ;  union  of  many 
nations  in,  3  ;  corruption  of,  4. 

English  liturgy,  291. 

Epaphroditus,  133,  242. 

Ephesian  letters,  108,  109. 

Ephesians,  134,  359,  362  ;  Epistle  of 
Ignatius  to,  373. 

Ephesus,  loi,  104-113,  117,  214. 

Epicureans,  5,  91,  93,  94. 

Epiphanius,  54,  99,  183,  413,  497. 

Episcopacy,  Prmiitive,  524,  526. 

Episcopal  succession,  300,  460,  532  ; 
ordination,  533. 

Epistles  of  commendation,  235,  295. 

Epistles  of  Paul,  160.  161  ;  of  Peter, 
161. 

Era,  Christian,  28. 

Erastus,  97,  137. 

Essenes,  7,  2i,  178,  184,  284. 

Etheridge,  384,  463. 

Ethiopia,  534. 

Eucharist,  307,  431,  444;  improperly 
designated,  446 ;  Polycarp  dis- 
penses it  at  Rome,  507  ;  adminis- 
tered by  the  bishops,  513,  536; 
sent  to  other  churches,  514;  with- 
held by  Cyprian,  574 ;  called  a 
sacrifice,  588. 

Eunuch,  Ethiopian,  50,  51,  433. 

Europe,  80. 

Eusebius,  22,  229,  252,  300,  359,  362, 


432,  460  ;  his  account  of  the  bishops 
of  Ceesarea,  475  ;  as  an  historian, 
478  ;  his  chronology,  489. 

Eutychius,  463,  474,  530,  535. 

Evaristus,  464,  489. 

Evodius,  356. 

Excommunication,  199,  203-204. 

Executors,  bishops  not  to  be,  528. 

Exorcism,  438. 

Exorcists,  253,  540. 

Extraordinary  teachers,  206, 

Ezekiel,  288. 

Faber,  49. 

Fabian,  274,  318,  322,  543. 

Fabricius,  534. 

Facts  of  the  gospel,  299. 

Faith,  71,  171. 

Famine,  59. 

Father,  the  bishop's  name,  463. 

Fathers,    331  ;   apostolic,    332,    335  ; 

absurdities  of,  352. 
Fasting,  448-450,  558,  560. 
Felicissimus,  544,  575,  577. 
Felicitas,  271,  272. 
Felix,  122,  123. 
Fell,  Bishop,  347. 
Fellow-presbyters,  bishops  so  called, 

543- 
Festivals,  Jewish,  72,  228,  421. 
Festus,  122,  123. 
Fidus,  436. 

Fig-tree,  cursing  of  the,  20. 
Fire  brigades,  553. 
Firmilian,  467,  562,  564. 
First  among  the  bishops,  548,  551. 
Flavia  Domitilla,  151. 
Flavins  Clemens,  150. 
Formalism,  70. 
Fornication,  l^,  78,  201. 
Fourteen  years,  73. 
France,  254,  306,  335. 
Frauds,  Pious,  409. 
Friday  of  the  Paschal  week,  571. 
Friends,  Society  of,  584. 
Fulgentius,  217, 
Fuller,  153. 
Fulness  of  time,  9. 
Funeral  of  the  bishop,  555. 

Gaelic,  335. 
Gaius,  97,  118,  380. 
Galatia,  104,  148. 
Galatians,  105  ;  epistle  to,  161. 
Galerius,  276,  278,  280. 


6o4 


INDEX. 


Galileans,  disciples  called,  57. 

Gallienus,  255,  327,  422. 

Gallio,  100. 

Gallus,  274,  297. 

Gamaliel,  52,  98,  227. 

Games,  264. 

Geneva  N.  T.,  163. 

Gentile  converts,  69. 

Gentiles,  121. 

Germany,  298. 

Gibbon,  275,  294. 

Gieseler,  271,  306,  443.  / 

Gihon,  351. 

Girba,  526. 

Gladiators,  291. 

Gnosis,  182,  392,  395. 

Gnosticism,  180,  181,  392,  396,  554. 

Gnostics,  109,  181,  336,  391,  492. 

Gods  of  the  heathen,  6. 

Gordian,  272. 

Gospels,  the,  16,  162,  408. 

Goths,  254,  327. 

Governments,  what,  207,  208. 

Grace,  417. 

Greece,  80 ;  synods  did  not  com- 
mence in,  560. 

Grecians,  47,  55,  56. 

Greek  extensively  spoken,  4 ;  by 
Paul,  120;  Greek  Church,  438; 
Greek  nations,  559;  Greek  coun- 
cils in  fixed  places,  562. 

Gregory  the  Great,  403. 

Gregory  Nazianzcn,  238,  551. 

Gregory  Nyssen,  349. 

Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  349,  353. 

Gregory  of  Tours,  254,  430. 

Greswell,  i,  30,  264,  357. 

Griesbach,  56,  138. 

Growth  of  the  Church,  249. 

Guerike,  427. 

HaCKETT,  III,  112,  128. 

Hadrian,  264,  269,  334,  483,  501. 

Hagenbach,  402. 

Hales,  49. 

Hallam.  294,  487, 

Hammond,  354. 

Hands,  laying  on  of,   64,  438,   530  ; 

of  bisiiops  and  elders,  542,  543. 
Hardy,  404. 
Hartung,  425. 

Heathen  mythology,  5,  6,  173,  174. 
Heathen  priests,  83,  253. 
Heathen  worship,  146. 
Hebrew,  fathers  ignorant  of,  351. 


Hebrews,  47  ;  epistle  to,  138,  160, 
162,  479. 

Helele,  354,  357. 

Hegesippus,  300,  310,  335,  482,  499. 

Helps,  207,  208. 

Henry,  Matthew.  353. 

Heraclas,  485,  528. 

Heresies,  178,  185,  336,  481-483. 

Heretics,  179,  324,  495. 

Hermas,  310,  334. 

Hennias,  416. 

Hermogenes,  183. 

Hero,  359. 

Herod  the  Great,  2,  12,  28,  29,  145. 

Herod  Agrippa,  59. 

Herodian,  280,  305. 

Hexapla,  344,  345. 

Hierapoiis,  107,  244,  335. 

Hierarchy,  475. 

High  priest,  36,  99,  216. 

HiIar)^  461,  467,  484,  493,  536. 

Hincmar,  513. 

Hippolytus,  309,  313,  316,  340,  372, 
534- 

Hodge,  581. 

Holy  Ghost,  76  ;  worshipped,  414. 

Homer,  218,  371. 

Homoousios,  406, 

Home,  160,  164,  174,  277. 

House  of  the  church,  382. 

Houses  of  worship,  422. 

Hugo  de  Sancto  Caro,  163, 

Humanitarian,  412. 

Huntingdon,  Robert,  354. 

Hyacinthus,  243,  527. 

Hyginus,  300,  301,  303;  prelacy  be- 
gins in  time  of,  489-492,  494, 
499 ;  arranged  the  clergy,  503 ; 
acknowledged  heretical  baptisms, 
577- 

Hymenaeus,  183. 

Ialdabaoth,  396. 

Iconium,  67,  68,  69. 

Idolatiy,  289,  290,  348. 

Ignatian  epistles,  372-390. 

Ignatius,  262,  356-358,  367-369,  371, 

463. 
Illiberality  of  the  Catholics,  579. 
Illyricum,  1 16,  153. 
Images,  289,  290. 

Immaculate  conception  of  Mar)',  593. 
Immersion,  197. 
Immorality  of  ministers,  284. 
Incidents  of  Christ's  death,  24. 


INDEX. 


605 


India,  130;  gospel  in,  254.  1 

Infant   baptism,    194-195,  431,  432,  | 

435- 

Infant  communion,  443. 

Infants  slain  at  Bethlehem,  13. 

Inspiration,  169,  407. 

Instrumental  music,  193,  429. 

Intermarriage  with  heathens,  293. 

Invisible  Church.  581. 

Irenaeus,  253,  364,  468 ;  his  life  and 
character,  335,  336 ;  on  baptism, 
431  ;  on  the  Eucharist,  445  ;  on 
the  Church  of  Rome,  306,  516  ;  on 
the  meeting  at  Miletus,  554. 

Irvingites,  245. 

Isaiah,  189. 

Israel,  mistaken  meaning  of,  351. 

Italy,  80,  153,  357,  531. 

JACOBSON,  357,  370,  383,  430,  455. 

Jailer,  85,  433. 

James  I.,  King,  478. 

James,  the  brother  of  John,  33-34,  60. 

James,  the  Lord's  brother,  33,  34,  35, 
146,  161  ;  not  Bishop  of  Jerusalem, 
230,  460. 

Janitors,  539. 

Jennings,  Rev.  Isaac,  238. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  1 3. 

Jerome,  337,  338,  459  ;  his  character, 
476  ;  his  account  of  the  hierarchy, 
477-480 ;  not  inconsistent,  485- 
486;  of  the  rise  of  prelacy,  491  ;  of 
the  bishops  of  Alexandria,  529,  530. 

Jerusalem,  22,  45,  60,  138;  its  fall, 
148,  157;  its  influence,  231;  re- 
built, 334  ;  ancient  church  of,  465- 
467,  472,  473;  bishop  of,  558. 

Jesus  Christ,  11,  144,  156,  168;  mis- 
take as  to  His  name,  351,  and  age, 
352;  worshipped,  411. 

Jewish  conjuror,  68. 

Jews,  their  condition,  6  ;  aversion  to 
gospel,  52,  68,  83,  97  ;  sects,  6. 

John  the  Baptist,  15,  30,  48,  49,  103. 

John  the  Evangelist,  22,  35-36,  149, 
151-152  ;  his  epistles,  161,  480  ;  in 
Patmos,  242 ;  epistle  of  Ignatius 
to,  359- 

John  Mark,  67. 

Jones  on  the  canon,  373,  388. 

Joseph  of  Arimathea,  150. 

Josephus,  29,  178,  239. 

Judas  the  traitor,  18,  32,  52. 

Jude,  34,  150,  161. 


Judea,  22. 

Judgment  of  God,  532. 

Julia  Mamm^a,  343,  364, 

Julian,  269. 

Julius  Valens,  322. 

Junius,  383. 

Justin  Martyr,  266,  418,  424,  448  ;  his 

life  and  character,  266,  332,  333. 
Justinian,  399,  513. 
Justus  of  Vienne,  428,  498,  531  ;  of 

Jerusalem,  463,  467. 

Kashisha,  284. 

Kay,  Rev.  W.,  56. 

Kaye,  Bishop,  252,  253,  401,  406. 

Kennett,  422. 

Kiss,  438,  439. 

Kitto,  288. 

Kneeling,  442. 

Koran,  156. 

Kuinoel,  224. 

Kurtz,  314. 

Lacedemonians,  425. 
Lachmann,  56,  75,  138,  174,  224,  234, 
Lactantius,  279,  349,  585. 
Lampridius,  255,  422. 
Languages  of  Roman  empire,  3,  129. 
Laodicea,  107,  151,  240;  council  of, 

423- 
Lapsed,  The,  574. 
Lardner,  252,  474,  501. 
Large  towns,  539. 
Larroque,  354,  443. 
Lateran,  313,  549. 
Latin  extensively  spoken,  3. 
Latin  Church,  204. 
Laurentius,  436. 

Laying  on  of  hands,  64,  438,  576, 
Lectors,  or  readers,  539. 
Lee,  Dr.,  of  Dublin,  318;    of  Cam 

bridge,  360. 
Legate,  239,  243. 
Lent,  563. 

Leonides,  270,  341,  342. 
Libellatici,  270. 
Liberty  of  conscience,  48,  281. 
Libya,  153. 
Licinius,  279. 
Lictors,  87. 
Life  of  Christ,  11. 
Lightfoot,  192,  194,  198,  209,  226. 
Limoges,  254. 
Linus,  301. 
Lions,  the  Christians  to  the,  264. 


6o6 


INDEX. 


Litton,  &"],  212,  226,  550. 

Liturgies,  191,  192,  425,  438. 

Livingstone,  594. 

Logos,  413. 

London,  370. 

Lord's  day,  187,  295,  425. 

Lordship,  218. 

Lord's  prayer,  348,  426. 

Lord's  Supper,    194,   197,    198,   334, 

440-446. 
Lot  of  the  episcopacy,  303,  317,  485, 

532. 
Lucius,  323. 

Luke,  22,  140,  142,  157,  158. 
Luther,  52. 
Lycaonia,  67. 
Lydia,  81,  434. 

Lyons,  254,  267,  268,  280,  308. 
Lystra,  68. 

Macedonia,  114,  116. 

Machaerus,  Fortress  of,  15. 

Macrianus,  274. 

Magians,  401. 

Magnesia,  358. 

Magnesians,  359,  374. 

Maitland,  319-322,  328. 

Malchion,  413,  527. 

Malta,  127,  129. 

Malta  Brun,  22. 

Man  of  sin,  loi,  151. 

Mani,  399-401. 

Manicheeans,  400,  403,  417. 

Manner  of  Christ's  teaching,  18-19. 

Mannulus,  526. 

Marcellus,  328, 

Marcia,  268,  308,  315. 

Marcion,  337,  340,  395,  491,  492 ; 
his  activity,  496  ;  seeks  admission 
to  Roman  presbytery,  497. 

Marcus  Aurelius,  252,  265,  280,  335, 

397. 
Marcus,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,   465, 

569. 
Maria  Cassobolita,  359. 
Mariner's  compass,  127. 
Mark,  22,  153,  157,  486. 
Married  clergy,  321,  337,  382. 
Mars'  hill,  92. 
Martyrdom,  364,  385. 
Martyrs,  574. 
Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  11,  33, 

263,  320,  385 ;  epistle  of  Ignatius 

to,  359.  374- 
Matter,  181. 


\  Matthew,  22,  32,  34,  157,  158. 

j  Maurice,  240. 

i  Mauritania,  469. 

!  Maximilla,  397. 

I  Maximin,  272,  278,  280,  313. 

I  M'Crie,  Dr.,  330. 

\  Meats  offered  to  idols,  "]"]. 

Medhurst's  China,  286. 

Media,  153. 

Meier,  359. 

MeHto,  335,  582. 

Memphitic  version,  251. 

Mesopotamia,  153,  558. 

Messiah  expected,  9,  168. 
I  Merivale,  i,  30,  129,  130,  294. 
;  Metropolis,  562. 

'  Metropolitan,    469,     546-548,     551  ; 
I      called  father,  463. 

Middleton,  253. 
I  Miletum,  137,  138. 

Miletus,  117,  137,  232,  478. 

Milk  and  honey,  438. 

Mill,  75. 

Millenarians,  183. 

Millennium,  163,  398. 

Milman,  13,  129,  147,  337. 

Milner,  389,  481. 

Minerva,  90. 

Ministers  of  the  Word  not  priests, 
587. 

Ministry  of  Jesus — its  length,  22,  49; 
its  fruits.  31. 

Minucius  Felix,  6,  292  ;  on  the  cross, 
287  ;  on  images,  289 ;  his  style, 
341. 

Miracles  of  Jesus,  16,  17,20;  discon- 
tinuance of,  252. 

Misquotations  by  the  fathers,  351. 

Missa,  498. 

Mode  of  baptism,  196. 

Moderator,  459,  460,  469,  487,  562. 

Moesia,  254. 

Mohammed,  156. 

Monachism,  286,  363,  403. 

Monarchians,  415. 

Monogram,  287. 

Montanism,  372,  556;  of  a  Roman 
bishop,  398. 

Montanists,  293,  408,  435,  472. 

Montanus,  397,  399. 

Morality  of  the  Christians,  250,  292. 

Morcland,  Sir  Samuel,  462. 
;  Mortal  sins,  401,  451. 
j  Mosheim,  179,  269;  on  synods,  553, 
I     557.  567. 


INDEX. 


607 


Multitude  in   Acts   xv.  12,   what  it 

means,  74. 
Mtinter,  305,  469,  473. 
Muratorian  fragment,  310 
Myra,  127. 
Mysterious   manifestations  of  Jesus, 

15- 
Mystics.  95,  345. 
Mythology,  5,  6,  174,  249. 

Napoleon,  329. 

Narbonne,  254. 

Narcissus,  463,  465,  557. 

Nathanael,  32,  35,  36, 

Nazarenes,    disciples   so    called,    57, 

146,  178  ;  heretics,  569. 
Nazareth,  11,  28. 
Neander,  377,  409,  544,  553. 
Neo  Cassarea,  349. 
Nero,    126,    138,   147,   148,    153,  162, 

280. 
Nerva,  249. 

New  Testament,  its  excellence,  165. 
New  York,  370. 
Nice,  327,  406,  452,  535,  562. 
Nicodemus,  22. 
Nicolaitanes,  183,  184. 
Nicomedia,  276. 
Nicopolis,  106. 
Nile,  351. 

Nitrian  desert,  354,  360. 
Noah's  descendants,  38. 
Noetus,  415,  470. 
Nomenclature,  A  new,  472. 
Northcote,  313,  318,  320,  441. 
Novatian,  324,  482,  547,  576. 
Novatians,  324,  577,  592. 
Novatus,  544. 
Numidia,  296,  469, 
Numidicus,  542. 

OCTAVIUS,  341. 

October,  562. 

CEhler,  336. 

Onesimus,  134,  294,  380,  381. 

Ophites,  396. 

Optatus,  329,  525,  541. 

Ordain,  215. 

Ordinary  office-bearers,  206. 

Ordination,  63-65,  211,  219;  Pres- 
byterian, 528  ;  at  Rome,  531,  532  ; 
Prelatic,  an  innovation,  533 ;  by 
bishops  and  presbyters,  542. 

Organization  of  the  Church,  223. 

Oriental  theology,  394,  395. 


Origen,  40,  41,  157,  270,  285,331; 
his  life  and  character,  341-346 ; 
on  the  Ignatian  epistles,  363,  371, 
388  ;  on  infant  baptism,  432  ;  on 
the  Eucharist,  445  ;  his  ordination, 
534 ;  preached  betbre  it,  525. 

Original  MSS.  of  N.  T.,  164. 

Original  sin,  410. 

Osroene,  558. 

Ostian  Way,  140. 

Owen,  190. 

Pacian,  512. 

Psedagogue,  340. 

Palestine,  174,  342.  373,  377,  473. 

Palmas,  557. 

Palmer,  192,  513. 

Pamelius,  347. 

Pantasnus,  339. 

Pantheists,  93. 

Papacy,  Rise  of  the,  329,  330. 

Paparius,  464. 

Papias,  41,  335,  336,  383. 

Parables  of  Jesus,  19. 

Paraclete,  398,  435. 

Paris,  254,  313. 

Parthenon,  107. 

Parthia,  153,  254. 

Paschal  feast,  309  ;  controversy,  335, 

471,  507,  532,  557,  570-573- 

Paschal  Iamb,  570,  572,  573. 

Passover,  58,  197. 

Pastor,  498. 

Pastor  of  Hermas,  334,  364;  con- 
demned, 560. 

Pastoral  epistles,  114.  214,  216. 

Pastors,  207,  208. 

Patmos,  151,  242,  243. 

Patripassians,  415. 

Patristic  errors,  350-352,  419. 

Paul  the  Apostle,  52-54,  60,  61,  63, 
64,  70-72,  84-101,  118,  299;  at 
Rome,  131  ;  second  imprisonment, 
136;  martyrdom,  139;  epistles  of, 
408. 

Paul  of  Samosata,  42,  285,  327, 
382,  423;  his  views,  413;  rural 
bishops  around  him,  527 ;  his 
pomp,  538  ;  deposed,  565. 

Paul  the  hermit,  286, 

Paulinos,  476. 

Pausanias,  93. 

Pearson,  481,  501  ;  on  the  Ignatian 
epistles,  354,  361,  366,  372,  389; 
on  chronology,  464,  489,  490. 


6o8 


INDEX. 


Peleg,  38,  39. 
Penance,  419,  452. 
Penitents,  202. 
Penitentiary  presbyter,  452. 
Pentateuch,  7,  193. 
Pentecost,   46,    102,     121,    169;    on 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  189;  no 
sponsors    at    its    baptisms,    433 ; 
synod    at,    562 ;   called   Whitsun- 
day, 570. 
People   did   not  vote  at   Council  of 
Jerusalem,  73 ;  nor  in  synods,  565, 
566. 

Pepin,  329. 

Perga,  67. 

Pergamos,  237. 

Perpetua,  271. 

Persecutions,  144,  258 ;  said  to  be 
ten,  279;  causes  of,  280;  Decian, 
451.  547;  Valerian,  547;  Diocle- 
tian, 276,  328. 

Persia,  153. 

Persons  of  the  Godhead,  414-416. 

Portinax,  269. 

Peshito,  207,  251,  383,  458. 

Peter,  33,  35,  45;  at  Rome,  139; 
first  epistle  of,  480 ;  second  epistle 
of,  141  ;  his  martyrdom,  142 ;  not 
prince  of  the  apostles,  299 ;  the 
rock,  310,  325,  326  ;  baptized  other 
apostles,  519. 

Pharisees,  6,  21,  121,  178,  188. 

Philadelphia,  237,  240,  359. 

Philadelphians,  359. 

Philemon,  133,  134. 

Philetus,  183. 

Philip  the  apostle,  32,  36,  149;  the 
evangelist,  117,  206. 

Philippi,  80-81,  368,  478. 

Philippians,  88,  135,  136;  epistles  of 
Ignatius  to,  359,  370,  374,  382  ;  of 
Polycarp  to,  367  ;  of  I'aul  to,  480. 

Philo  Judasus,  239.  345,  351,  364. 

Philosophers,  their  infiuence,  5. 

Philosophy,  its  tendency,  4;  its  in- 
efficiency, 91. 

Philosophumena,  314,  315,  316,  317, 
320,  321,  341. 

Philoslorgius,  254. 

Philostratus,  93,  108. 

Phoebe,  220,  221. 

Phoenice,  343. 

Phoenix,  165. 

Phrygia,  104,  365,  397  ;  Pacatiana, 
161. 


Phygellus,  183. 

Picts,  298. 

Pilate,  23. 

Pius,  303,  334,  428,  489,  490 ;  his  let- 
ters, 498-500,  531. 

Pius  IV.,  Pope,  313. 

Places  of  worship,  194. 

Platina,  329. 

Plato,  5,  90,  180;  philosophy  of,  394, 
402  i  his  trinity,  416. 

Piatt,  188. 

Players,  291  ;  playhouse,  291. 

Pleroma,  393.  394,  395. 

Pliny,  262,  356,  411,  442. 

Plurality  of  elders,  208. 

Polianus,  526. 

Politarchs,  89. 

Politicians  perplexed  by  Christ,  21. 

Polity  of  church,  its  importance,  550. 

Polycarp,   266,  303  ;  his  epistle,  332, 
455,458  ;  letter  of  Ignatius  to,  356, 
359.  378,  382  ;  baptized  in  infancy, 
430,  431  ;  his  reference  to  Ignatius, 
367-370  ;  visits  Rome,  506,  507. 
Polycrates,  520,  571. 
Polygamy,  292,  293. 
Pomptine  marshes,  131. 
Pontia,  151. 

Pontifex  Maximus,  494. 
Pontifical  Book,  502,  503. 
Pontius  the  Deacon,  275,  285. 
Pontius  Pilate,  23,  375. 
Pontus,  148,  349. 
Pope,  328,  458,  463,  466. 
Popular  election,  48,  67,  219. 
Person,  361. 
Porter,  Sir  R.  Ker,  287. 
Porlus,  309,  315. 
Postscripts,  161,  214,369. 
Pothmus,  268.  280,  335,  463. 
Potter,  425,  561. 
Practical   excellence   of   the   gospel, 

250. 
Pr^edestinatus.  556. 
Pra;torian  Prefect,  131. 
Praitorium,  133. 
Praxeas,  415,  416. 
Prayer,   191,    339,  426;  standing  at, 

424,  430. 
Preaching,  191,  210-21 1,  427  ;  plau- 
dits at,  428;  preaching  elder,  211, 
221. 
Precepts,  403. 

Predestination,  175,  417,  418. 
Prelacy,  311;  begins  at    Rome,  489, 


INDEX. 


609 


490,  493,  494;  Its  rise,  505,  512; 
easily  introduced,  508,  509;  Je- 
rome's account  of  it,  555;  grad- 
ually advances,  567. 

Prelates,  240,  535  ;  pomp  of,  538 ; 
said  to  be  successors  of  the  apos- 
tles, 587. 

Prelatic    ordination    an    innovation, 

533- 

Presbyterian  Church  of  Rome,  458. 

Presbyters,  234,  471,  481,  484;  com- 
mon council  of,  477,  566  ;  of  Alex- 
andria, 530;  ordaining,  542,543; 
sat  in  councils,  565. 

Presbytery,  66.  202,  219,  226,  227, 
317,427,  459.487. 

Prescott,  287. 

Presentation  in  the  temple,  28. 

President,  454,  455,  461,  484,  502. 

Presiding  presbyter,  302,  484. 

Prideaux,  191,  239,  241,  425. 

T'riest,  The  English  word,  587. 

Priest  of  Jupiter,  68. 

Prince  Albert,  360. 

Principal  churches,  514,  515  ;  bishops, 
516,  517,  548. 

Priscilla,  97,  103,  104,  116,  211. 

Proculus,  269. 

Progress  of  prelacy,  537,  538. 

Prompter,  424. 

Prophecy,  65. 

Prophets,  40,  54  75,  193,  207,  228. 

Proselyte  of  the  gate,  51. 

Providence,  A  particular,  418. 

Psalms,  167,  192,  423. 

Psyria,  371. 

Ptolemais,  415. 

Ptolemies,  The,  288. 

Purgatory,  403. 

Pusey,  Dr.,  564,  565. 

Puteoli,  127,  129,  131. 

Pythoness,  82. 

QUADRATUS,  264,  367. 

Quart odecimans,  571. 
Quirinius,  30. 

Rawlinson,  Sir  H.,  360. 
Reader  or  Lector,  427,  539. 
Reading   the    Scriptures,    164,    191, 

193,  426;  prayers,  424. 
Rebaptism,  324. 
Recognitions  of  Clement,  346. 
Redeemer,  168,  172. 
Reeves,  137. 

39 


Reformation,  290,  319. 

Regeneration,  431. 

Religion  of  heathens,  4. 

Repentance  and  penance,  451,  453. 

Representation  of  the  Church,  559. 

Resurrection  of  Jesus,  25,  45,  49, 
187;  festival  of  the,  571,  573. 

Rhone,  335. 

Rigaltius,  336. 

Robinson,  30,  37,  39. 

Rock,  The,  of  Rome,  596  ;  Peter  the, 
310. 

Roman — See  Empire. 

Rownan  bishop  for  the  Montanists, 
314. 

Romanism,  299. 

Roman  poets  and  historians,  2  ;  pres- 
bytery, 461. 

Romans,  Epistle  to,  116,  139;  of 
Ignatius  to,  359,  362,  365,  366-373. 

Rome,  its  wealth  and  greatness,  2, 
130;  its  intercourse  with  Car- 
thage, 336;  its  population,  129; 
Church  of,  132,  142,  160,  162,  254, 
299,  306,  473 ;  its  influence,  304, 
494-496 ;  its  statistics,  323 ;  Bi- 
shop of,  327,  374,  517,  549;  Cle- 
ment of,  456  ;  origin  of  Church  of, 
490;  catholic  system  begins  at,  513, 
515,  518,  539;  bishop  of,  at  head 
of  catholic  league,  520;  ignorance 
of  Bishop  of,  560  ;  Paul  embarks 
for  it,  127. 

Root  and  womb  of  the  Church,  519. 

Rothe,  67,  354,  481,  584. 

Routh,  335,  406,  471. 

Rufinus,  432. 

Rufus,  368,  369. 

Ruinart,  266. 

Sabbath,  188,  189,  190. 

Sabellius,  345,  415. 

Sacrament,  197,  443. 

Sacrificati,  270. 

Sadducees,  6,  21,  121,  178. 

Sage,  Bishop,  347,  542. 

Saint  as  a  prefix,  160. 

Salamasius,  498. 

Salvation,  none  out  of  the  Church; 

Samaritans,  36,  39,  50,  51,  182. 

Sand-diggers,  319,  321. 

Sanhedrim,    32,   45,    121,    184,    216,. 

226. 
Sardis,  152,  237. 


6io 


INDEX. 


Satan,  346  ;  delivering  to,  200. 

Satisfactions,  419. 

Saturday,  187. 

Saturninus,  364,  394. 

Salurus,  541. 

Sntil,  or  Paul,  66. 

bavi;^ny,  462. 

Schaff,  106,  189,  294,  400,  571. 

Schism,  of  Novatian,  324,  327,  547  ; 
of  Felicissimus,  547,  575. 

Schismatics,  called  heretics,  482. 

Scholz,  138. 

Scotland,  255,  510. 

Scott,  Thomas,  353. 

Scribes,  19,  227. 

Scriptures,  7,  164,  169;  consistent, 
172  ;  burned,  276,  277  ;  commit- 
ted to  memory,  407  ;  seized,  426. 

Scrivener,  224. 

Scyra,  371. 

Scyros,  371. 

Sects,  595. 

Secundinus,  526. 

See  of  Peter,  381,  519,  522. 

Selden,  37,  220,  226,  530. 

Seleucia,  66. 

Seneca,  1 00. 

Seniority,  303,  469,  470. 

Senior,  presbyter,  460-463,  470,  484, 
531  ;  bishop,  469,  470,  562. 

Septimius  Severus,  269,  280,  309. 

Septuagint,  8,  344.  457- 

Serapis,  286. 

Serenius  Granianus,  264, 

Sergius  Paulus,  66,  150. 

Scrvianus,  501. 

Seven  churches,  152,  238,  244. 

Seventy,  The,  30,  37,  45,  54,  57. 

Seventy  nations,  37. 

Shepherd,  Mr.,  348,  413. 

Shepherd  of  Hermas,  334,  364,  382. 

Shepherds  of Judea,  30. 

Shipwreck  of  Paul,  127-129. 

Sibylline  books,  376. 

Silas,  84. 

Simeon,  or  Niger,  54. 

Simeon  of  Jerusalem,  185,  263,  464, 
465,  467.  482. 

Simon  Magus,  182. 

Simon  Zeloles,  41. 

Sitting  at  the  Eucharist,  442. 

Six  hundred  and  si.\ty-six,  151. 

Sixtus,  274,  464. 

Slavery,  294,  295. 

Slaves,  433. 


Smith's  Dictionary  of  Geography 
107,  129,  371  ;  of  Antiquities,  197 
425,  485. 

Smith  of  Jordanhill,  127,  128,  129. 

Smyrna,  237,  356,  358,  370,  464,  47a 

Smyrn^ans,  359,  363,  374,  386. 

Socrates,  the  philosopher,  90,  91  ; 
the  historian,  286,  573. 

Sopater,  118. 

Soter,  489 ;  called  a  presbyter,  532. 

Sozomen,  254. 

Spain,  136,  138,  153,  254,  469; 
church  of,  473. 

Sponsors,  433. 

Sprinkling,  437. 

Spurious  writings,  373. 

Standing  at  the  Eucharist,  442,  445. 

Stanley's  Eastern  Church,  474. 

Stars,  Seven,  238. 

Stationary  days,  450. 

Stephen,  the  first  martyr,  49,  144; 
of  Rome,  323,  325,  326,  350,  521  • 
against  rebaptism,  576 ;  excom- 
municates other  bishops,  577. 

Stephens,  Robert,  163. 

Stieren's  Irenjeus,  37,  303,  336,  351, 
382,  507,  578. 

Stiliingfleet,  461,  513. 

Stoics,  5,  91,  93,  94. 

Strabo,  97,  240,  526. 

StratJEas,  455. 

Stromata,  340,  350,  351. 

Subdeacons,  539. 

Subintroductit,  285. 

"Subsecivie,  Horaj,"  91. 

Suburbicarian  Provinces,  327. 

Succession,  Episcopal,  301,  460,  476, 
532. 

Suetonius,  145. 

Suffrage,  3 1 7. 

Suicide,  85. 

Sulpilius  Severus,  148. 

Sunday,  424. 

Supreme  Pontiff,  322. 

Symmachus,  345. 

Synagogue,    8,    191,    198,    226,    227, 

239- 
Synods,  their  history,  552  ;  of  apos- 
tolic origin,  554,  555  ;  at  first  few, 
556;  held  generally,  558;  con- 
demned Montanists,  556;  ruled 
the  church,    563;    of  Alexandria, 

474- 
Syria,    71,    342,    368,    373;   in    the 
yEgean  Sea,  17 1 . 


INDEX. 


6ii 


Syriac  of  Ignatian  Epistles,  360-361, 

370,  374- 
Syrian  deputation,  72. 
Syricius,  312. 

Tacitus,  121,  142,  147,  148. 

Tarquin,  376,  377. 

Tarsians,  359. 

Tarsus,  51,  52. 

Tatian,  350. 

Tattam,  Archdeacon,  354. 

Teacher,  The  bishop,  525. 

Teachers,  54,  65,  207,  208,  228. 

Teetotalers,  350. 

Telesphorus,  301 ,  464, 489  ;  martyred, 
495,  500;  called  a  presbyter,  532; 
did  not  keep  the  paschal  feast,  571. 

Temple  service,  191,  192. 

Tennent,  Sir  J.  £.,  404. 

Tertullian  on  Ezek.  ix.  4, — 288  ;  on 
the  phoenix,  165  ;  on  the  angel  of 
the  church,  241  ;  on  the  perpetual 
virginity  of  Mar)',  264;  on  Matt, 
xvi.  18, —  310,  326;  his  life  and 
character,  336-339,  350 ;  his  fan- 
cies, 352 ;  on  venial  and  mortal 
sins,  401;  on  baptism,  432-434; 
his  account  of  penitents,  448  ;  on 
synods,  558. 

Tc'xtus  Rcceptus,  xiii.,  138. 

Thebaic  version,  251. 

Thebuthis,  482. 

Theodotian,  345. 

Thcodotus,  412. 

Theophilus,  of  Antioch,  253,  334, 
414;  of  Csesarea,  557,  558. 

Theophorus,  355. 

Therapeutae,  284,  363. 

Thessalonians,  100,  loi. 

Thessalonica,  99;  its  first  Papal 
Vicar,  515. 

Thomas,  32,  35,  41. 

Thorndike,  498. 

Thrace,  254. 

Thraseas,  464. 

Three  taverns,  131. 

Thundering  legion,  252. 

Thurificati,  270. 

Tiber,  273,  309. 

Tiberius,  30,  53,  55,  375. 

Tickets  of  peace,  574. 

Tillemont,  49,  457,  465,  500. 

Timothy,  69,  114,  137,  206,  215,  217, 
380. 

Tischendorf,  xiii,,  138,  224. 


Titles  of  canonical  books,  159-160. 

Titles  of  Christ,  172,  173. 

Tiiulus,  498. 

Titus,  106,  115,  161,  215-218,  228. 

Toledo,  470. 

Toleration,  261,  282. 

Tongues,  193,  207. 

Tortures,  266,  278, 

Toulouse,  254. 

Tours,  254. 

Tradition,    loi,    169,   204;    Roman 

307,  409 ;  attested  by  bishops,  469 

its  uncertainty,  572. 
Traditors,  277,  426. 
Trajan,  249,  262,  264,  356. 
Trallians,  359,  374. 
Translation  of  bishops,  551. 
Translations  of  N.  T.,  251. 
Transubstantiation,  443. 
Tregelles,  75,  174,  224. 
Trinity,  175,  339,  350,  413,  414.  4l6. 
Troas,  117,  137,  356,  359. 
Trophimus,  118,  137. 
Trustees  of  British  Museum,  354. 
Trypho,  333. 
Turner,  Sharon,  570. 
Tutelary  guardians,  6. 
Twelve,  The,  31-36,  41,  48,  59. 
Two  years  old,  what,  28. 
Tychicus,  118,  134, 
Tyrannus,  105,  107. 
Tyre,  346,  476. 

Ulster,  Synod  of,  491. 

Uniformity,  236,  577,  578. 

Union,  Bond  of,  553. 

Unitarians,  412. 

Unity,  Catholic,  516,  518. 

Unity  of  God,  9,  416. 

Unity,    of     the    Church,     185,    224, 

235,  512;  promised,  598. 
Unknown  God,  92. 
Ussher,  354,  361,  378,  389,  487. 

Vacancy,  Episcopal,  at  Rome,  496  ; 

at  Alexandria,  506. 
Valens,  367. 
Valentine,  42,  301  ;  his  system,  394; 

his  activity,  497  ;  at  Rome,  498. 
Valentinians,  336,  339. 
Valeria,  257. 

Valerian,  274,  275,  280,  348. 
Valesius,  139. 
Vatican    MS.,    277;     Library,    313, 

Lapidarian  Gallery,  319-322. 


6l2 


INDEX. 


Venial  sins,  401   451. 

Venus,  66,  96. 

Vicarious  sacrifice  of  Christ,  23. 

Victor  of  Rome,  308,  309,  312,  335, 
413,  489,  521  ;  supports  Montan- 
ism,  314  ;  holds  a  synod,  557,  558  ; 
opposes  the  Ouartodecimans,  571. 

Vienne,  254,  267,  308,  531. 

Virginity,  Perpetual,  of  Mary,  593. 

Virgins,  285,  348. 

Visible  Church,  581,  584. 

Vitringa,  37,  152,  203,  207,  288. 

Vossius,  354,  361. 

Voting,  67,  317. 

Vow  of  a  Nazarite,  1 19. 

Waddington,  438, 

Wake,  357, 

Wall,  432. 

Warburton,  352. 

Water  of  baptism,  437  ;  in  the  wine 

of  the  Eucharist,  442. 
Westcott,  162,  251,  384,  409. 
Western  Empire,  151. 
Whately,  435. 
Whiston,  30,  359. 
Whitby,  157,  217. 
Whitsunday,  570. 
Wieseler,  59,  115,  131. 


Will-worship,  404. 

Wilson,  196,  430. 

Winckelmann,  313. 

Wisdom,  the  Spirit  so  called,  414. 

Wise  men  from  the  East,  12,  28. 

Wishart,  William,  510. 

Wombs  of  the  faith,  514. 

Wonderful  character  of  Christ,  27, 

Wordsworth,  160,  162,  163,  306,  314, 

Worship  of  the  Church,    187,   226^ 

421. 
Written  Word,  169,  171. 

Xenophon,  91. 

Xerophagife,  450. 

Xystus,  323,  489 ;  called  a  presby- 
ter, 532  ;  did  not  keep  the  paschal 
feast,  571. 

Year  of  Christ's  birth,  28. 
Yehovah,  351. 

Zacchaeus,  34. 

Zeal  for  martyrdom,  269,  385.. 

Zebedee,  35,  36. 

Zelotes,  33. 

Zephyrinus,  3H,  3^S.  3SO. 

Zoroaster,  399,  425. 

Zosimus,  368,  369. 

Zumpt,  294. 


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